Hinata: Sweetheart of the Allied Nations
by xHinaLovex
Summary: A year after the war Hinata has still not heard from Naruto about her confession. When she overhears something on a mission she takes it badly and goes off on him. She takes a 2 yr diplomatic mission in order to get stronger and get over Naruto. Meanwhile, Naruto realizes his mistake and is determined to win her over. How will Hinata develop and how will Naruto accomplish his goal?
1. The Retrieval Mission

**For all of you reading this story for the first time, welcome! For those who have been reading this story and noticed a new author's note, no worries you aren't missing anything if you don't read it but you are free to read if you like.**

**I just wanted to offer a slightly more in-depth summary than what fits into the one that shows when you are browsing stories. This story begins a year after the war and Naruto has not yet said anything to Hinata about her confession. Emotionally on edge around him, Hinata overhears something Naruto says on a mission and goes off on him. When they return, she is offered a diplomatic mission that will allow her to live in the other Elemental Nations and train for the next two years. She takes the opportunity to become stronger and get over Naruto. Meanwhile, Naruto realizes he has made a mistake and becomes determined to win her over.**

**The first part of this story focuses on both Hinata and Naruto's emotional development as well as their growth as shinobi. It goes into the reasons Naruto never said anything (he's not a cad and I don't want to write him as such) and the growth of his feelings for her.**

**I was interested in writing a story that shows a Hinata who somewhat cracks emotionally when she thinks she hears something. She is always so understanding of Naruto and truly cares about him, but I think that going so long without hearing anything from him regarding her confession and being too afraid to bring it up herself would take a toll on her emotionally. That's the kind of place she's in in this first chapter and she'll later rethink what happens.**

**Anyway, now that I'm further into the story I felt like giving you guys a little more context for why this starts the way it does. Both main characters have a lot of growing ahead and it's been a joy to write thus far.**

* * *

Hinata: Sweetheart of the Allied Nations

Chapter One: The Retrieval Mission

The Fourth Great Shinobi War had ended 12 months ago. Madara was dead (for good this time) and the threat of the Akatsuki was gone. In the Five Great Elemental nations, civilians and shinobi alike were picking their lives back up and adjusting to life without those lost in the war.

In Konoha, the Godaime Hokage, Senju Tsunade, looked at a report on her desk and sent her ANBU to summon three shinobi to her office. The first two arrived together, as they had both been working in the hospital when they were summoned. The first to walk into the room was the pink haired Haruno Sakura, esteemed apprentice of the blonde Sannin. The second was the shy, dark haired Hyuga Hinata, heiress of the prestigious Hyuga clan. These were two of the most beautiful and talented kunoichi in all of Konoha. They had become closer after the war as Hinata had decided to get some medical ninja training and Sakura had been eager to bring the kunoichi from the Konoha 12 closer together.

The war had really brought into perspective the value of friendship and Sakura had realized that she and Ino had not spent much time with Hinata and TenTen before the war. She thought it was a travesty and had quickly decided to rectify that situation once Hinata started with her medical training. The girls were discussing one of their patients as they walked into Tsunade's office.

Tsunade smiled as she saw the two girls talking comfortably with one another. The friendship between Sakura, Ino, Hinata, and TenTen had benefitted all four of the girls. Sakura still had a temper as legendary as her mentor's, but her time with Hinata had helped her learn to control it better, if only a little bit. Ino had always cherished her friendship with Sakura, but it was nice to have more girls to talk to whom she didn't also consider rivals. The presence of the other two helped keep their arguing to a minimum and she found herself closer to her best friend than ever before.

Hinata and TenTen had probably benefitted the most from this new friendship. Neither had really had any close female friends before and both had been devastated at the death of Neji. Although TenTen was still very serious about her career as a kunoichi, she now enjoyed spending some time doing things other than training. She was happy to relax and enjoy girl time every now and then. Besides, what better way to become a legendary kunoichi than by spending time with the other three most likely to become legendary kunoichi of their time?

Hinata had gained a little more confidence while fighting in the war, but her new friendships put an end to her stutter completely and drastically decreased her blushing. The now 18 year olds-or 19, in TenTen's case-were truly blossoming from talented teenagers into strong young women.

The three women did not have to wait more than ten minutes for the final team member to arrive. Naruto barged into the room with his usual boisterous greeting of, "Hey Baa-chan" and got knocked on the head simultaneously by Sakura and Tsunade. Hinata stifled a giggle at their antics, but had to suppress a blush when the noise drew her crush's attention to her. She still found old habits hard to break when his piercing blue eyes were trained on her.

After exchanging short greetings, Sakura, Hinata, and Naruto all turned to Tsunade while Naruto voiced the question on all their minds, "So, why did you call us here?"

Tsunade looked at them and smiled, happy to give them a mission she knew they had been looking forward to. "Well," she began, "I have been talking with the council and we decided that it is now time for you to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke and bring him back to the village for good."

Uchiha Sasuke had come back to help his comrades from Konoha towards the end of the war, but once it was finished he decided to take some time away from the village to get used to the idea of returning. He had lived his life solely for the purpose of vengeance for so long that he knew he would not be able to go straight back once the war ended. He talked with Naruto and together they convinced Tsunade that it would be alright for him to take some time in a secluded part of the Fire Nation to adjust to the idea of coming back to Konoha. Apparently the council and Hokage had decided that a year was sufficient time and were ready to bring him back for good.

Sakura's eyes were wide and Hinata put her hand on her shoulder while shooting her friend a small, supportive smile. Ino had gotten over her infatuation with the last Uchiha, but Sakura was still hopelessly in love with him. She thought this past year would give her some time to get used to the idea that he was really coming back, but her nerves made her feel once again like that 13 year old girl who had offered her heart to the boy in an effort to get him to stay. Needless to say, she was very glad Hinata would be on this mission to support her. Naruto, on the other hand, was both excited and a little confused about his team.

"Woohoo!" shouted the blond, excited that his promise of a lifetime would finally be officially fulfilled. "But, why is Hinata coming with us instead of Sai?"

Hinata's head drooped and she looked at the ground. Her confidence had grown by leaps and bounds, but Naruto was still her kryptonite. Sakura noticed Hinata's change in attitude and promptly snapped herself out of her daze and smacked Naruto on the back of the head.

"Ow, what was that for?!"

"Baka! Why would you say that about Hinata? Is she not good enough for you?"

"No, no! That's not what I meant!" Naruto hastily replied, realizing his question had been misinterpreted. "It's just that this is kind of a Team 7 specific mission and Sai is part of Team 7 so it just seemed odd to replace him, that's all!"

Tsunade coughed, drawing their attention back to her. "To answer your question, Naruto, Sai was given another mission just this morning so he is unable to join you. Since we have the general area where Sasuke is staying, but not an exact location, I assigned you the best available tracker for searching wide areas quickly. Do you have any other objections I need to know about?"

Naruto could hear her taking a dangerous tone and figured she was not in the best of moods considering the meeting regarding this mission had been this morning and any council meeting regarding the last Uchiha was usually a rather heated one. Thus, he rightly decided to keep quiet and shook his head no.

"Good," said Tsunade. "In that case, I have a map with his general location as well as a couple of areas circled that make the most sense to search first as they are the most ideal for living conditions. It should take about two days to get there, one to two days to find him, and two days to get back. You leave in two hours. Dismissed!"

Hinata and Sakura made plans to meet for a quick lunch once they finished packing and all three shinobi left the Hokage's office to prepare for the mission ahead.

* * *

Three days had passed since the Konoha shinobi left the village to retrieve their comrade. All three had wondered if there would be some big confrontation once they found Sasuke. That perhaps they would find him, he would tell them he had decided not to come back after all, he and Naruto would fight it out in some epic battle, and Sakura would have to heal them enough to get them back.

Needless to say they were all a little on edge as they approached the tiny cabin that it seemed Sasuke had built for himself. The last thing they expected was to find him on the side of said cabin, kneeling in the dirt, weeding a garden. They stopped and stared at him until he sat back on his feet and looked at them as if to say, "What?" Instead what he actually said was, "Hn. It's time?" Sakura and Hinata nodded in response while Naruto smiled one of his brilliant smiles and said, "You bet! Team 7 will be reunited once again!" as he let out a loud "Whoop!"

Sasuke just stood up and walked towards the door of the cabin, and gestured for the others to follow him in. Inside was rather crowded with the four of them and the three who were not previously living there glanced around at their surroundings. It was a very modest one room cabin with a futon in one corner, a fire pit and makeshift stove in another corner, and a small table with a few shelves built over it along one of the walls.

There was an awkward silence inside the cabin that Naruto could not stand. "So... a garden?" he asked, trying to start up a conversation. Sasuke just shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Is that a problem?" before silence once again reigned. Realizing that they were likely in the way inside the small space and that Sasuke would not need much time to pack, they excused themselves and told him they would wait outside.

The last Uchiha finished within a half an hour and they were ready to go. Hinata, however, noticed Sasuke glancing at his garden and spoke up: "Uchiha-san, would you like to take some of your plants with you? Those tomato plants look very well taken care of and that way you wouldn't have to start from scratch when you get back." Sasuke quickly turned his head to look at her, a surprised expression flitting across his face before it returned to his usual impassive one. He hadn't realized that he had been so obvious. Honestly he hadn't been, but Hinata knew how to read people, especially emotionally repressed people.

"You can do that?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied. "If you have a scroll and some ink, I designed a special storage seal for transporting plants already rooted after a rare plant I had ordered was destroyed while I was on my way home from the Yamanaka flower shop. It's nothing fancy, just a regular storage seal adjusted to better suit the purpose. If you are willing to delay for an extra twenty minutes then I can draw it up and store some of your garden for the trip."

A little impressed, though not showing it, Sasuke reached inside his pack and handed Hinata the items she asked for. She thanked him and within the time she had expressed, she had finished and they were off.

* * *

The first day of travel was a little awkward. Sakura didn't seem to know what to say. She was no longer fawning over the Uchiha, she had grown out of that, but she still cared about him. Unfortunately, the last meeting where they really had much of a conversation was the time when she had tried to kill him and he had almost succeeded in killing her instead. When he had shown up to help in the war, there really wasn't time to chat. She had forgiven him for everything, but wasn't sure how to start a casual conversation. Hinata was her usual quiet self, partially because that's how she was, partially because she was still rather shy when Naruto was around, and partially because she felt that this was more of a time for Team 7 to get reacquainted and she did not want to intrude.

Naruto, however, was beyond excited to have his best friend back and he was talking enough for the four of them. He was telling Sasuke all about what had been happening since the war. Naruto assured him that he would show him all around the village when they got back, since the layout had changed from the reconstruction after the Pein attack.

Sakura heard this and reminded Naruto, "Remember, Tsunade-sama asked us to go to her office before anything else. She wants to set up a meeting to go over the circumstances of Sasuke's return and give him a couple of rules to follow until the meeting takes place." None of the four shinobi knew what exactly was in store for the raven haired Uchiha once they returned to the village and silence reigned once again as they all pondered what might happen.

They rested that night, then travelled the next day in much the same fashion. Around dinner time, they decided to set up camp for the night. Konoha was only about five hours away, but since they were still within the time constraints of their mission, there was no need to push it.

After dinner, the sun had set, and the night began to grow cooler. Fall was giving way to winter and the nights in Fire Country were becoming quite cold. Hinata offered to gather some more wood for the fire since her Byakugan would allow her to both find wood in the dark and look out for threats at the same time. Her companions accepted this and she quickly went about her task.

A few minutes later, Naruto continued to talk to Sasuke about all the things they would do once they got back to Konoha while Sasuke just sat there and listened. Sakura watched the two boys and wondered how two vastly different people could be such good friends. Although Sasuke wouldn't say it aloud, Sakura could tell he was happy to be back with his friend and rival.

As she pondered their strange relationship, Naruto's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Hey, Sakura-chan, you don't have to feel left out! I would be happy to take you out as well. It could be a date!" Naruto said, as he grinned cheekily.

Sakura groaned in annoyance and smacked Naruto in the head. "I told you. Never going to happen," she said as she stood up and went inside her tent. He was hopeless. And she couldn't help but get angrier and angrier every time he asked her out. Ever since she became friends with Hinata, she wanted to berate Naruto for treating her friend so callously. He knew he didn't have a chance with her, and as far as she knew he still had not responded to Hinata's confession. Plus, they had all witnessed the moment shared between Naruto and Hinata after Neji's death on the battlefield. Sakura could not fathom how he could go from moments such as that and Hinata's confession during Pein, to hardly speaking to the poor girl. However, her shy friend would not allow her to ask him about it so she just continued to wonder and hit him at every attempt to ask her out.

After Sakura closed the flap on her tent, Sasuke looked at Naruto and asked, "I guess some things never change. Why are you still trying? She has rejected you since before we even graduated the Academy." Naruto just shrugged and said, "Well, Sakura knows me. We've been on the same team for years. Plus, she's pretty." Naruto had long ago realized that he didn't exactly love Sakura. Sure, she was definitely pretty and strong and he would love it if she gave him a chance, but he couldn't honestly say he knew her well enough to truly be in love with her.

Sasuke just rolled his eyes. "Is there no one in Konoha who wouldn't hit you if you asked them out?"

"Nah, it's just a bunch of fangirls. And they just want to date me because I'm now the 'Hero of the Leaf' and 'Son of the Fourth Hokage'."

Suddenly the boys heard a gasp and the sound of logs falling to the ground. They turned around to see Hinata, with a pained expression on her face. "J-just a bunch of fangirls? Is th-that what I am to you? A _fangirl_?"

Naruto's eyes went wide.

"I figured that you did not consider me a romantic interest. And I knew that it was possible that you might not consider me a friend, since we never really spend time together outside of missions. But I thought... I thought I was at least a trusted companion, a fellow member of the Konoha 12 and someone who has been behind you, rooting for you since the Academy days. When you were still the dead last and everyone made fun of you for wanting to be Hokage, I believed you could do it. I jumped in to save you when Pein had you pinned with his chakra rods, I jumped in front of that attack from the Ten-tails, I have willingly and purposefully risked my life for you twice, confessed my love for you, kept you from giving yourself over to Obito's plan, and you are grouping me in with your fangirls?!"

At this point Hinata had tears running down her face, but she stood strong and proud, waiting for his response. Naruto quickly jumped in, "No! No, Hinata, I don't think of you as a fangirl! I wasn't thinking of you at all when I said that!"

This time it was Hinata's eyes that went wide. He was asked about possible romantic interests and she didn't even cross his mind in the slightest. Suddenly all that time waiting for a response, all that time trying to quell her insecurities, and all that time hoping and praying that he would acknowledge her in some small way while doing her best not to let the disappointment get to her finally caught up and she snapped.

"Well, that's it isn't it." Hinata whispered harshly. "You weren't thinking of me at all. I wasn't even a consideration. You know, since I confessed during the Pein attack, I feared that your lack of response meant that you didn't even find me worthy of responding to. That I was nothing to you, not even worth the time it took to say 'Thank you' or 'I heard what you said, and I appreciate it'. And all of our friends - Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, the girls, Neji-niisan - they all assured me that that was not the case, that I meant something to you, that I was one of your precious people and that you would eventually say something, even if it was to let me down easily.

"I didn't expect you to come running to me after my confession. I didn't even expect to live after that confession. I just wanted to make sure that before I died, you knew that you were loved. But I did live. And because I did I thought - I mean I hoped you might at least say something. I tried to tell myself I was just letting my old insecurities act up again, but now I know it is true! I am actually nothing to you! Not even a thought in your mind unless we have to work together for a mission!

"You said you kept asking Sakura out because she knew you. That your fangirls only wanted to date you for superficial reasons. But there has to be something else you are looking for because _I _know you. I've watched you since our time at the Academy. I admired you when you were the dead last. I saw how long you trained, how hard you tried, and how you never gave up. You were the person I admired most. That's why I adopted your nindo. I wanted to be strong like you, strong enough to walk with you. But now I know your response. I suppose I should thank you for finally making it clear how you feel about me." Hinata's voice faltered.

With the little bit of strength she had left she said, "I hope it is alright if I take first watch tonight, Sasuke-kun. I do not think I would be able to sleep at the moment." Sasuke nodded and she began to walk off.

Naruto jumped up quickly and grabbed Hinata's wrist. "Wait," he begged, wanting to make things right. Hinata turned to him and Naruto almost took a step back, heart breaking at the anguish and hurt he saw in her eyes. Hinata blinked back tears, determined not to let him see her cry any more over him, and said, "Please release me, Uzumaki-san."

Naruto flinched at the change in address. Coming from Hinata, that was essentially a slap in the face. "But Hinata-" Suddenly he felt an arm on his and looked over to see Sasuke. "Naruto, let her go." Naruto started to argue, but the look on Sasuke's face made it clear he would not take no for an answer. He let go of Hinata's wrist and she disappeared quickly after sending Sasuke a look of gratitude. He just nodded and turned back to the campfire with Naruto trailing behind.

"What the hell, Sasuke, I wanted to talk to her!"

"You're an idiot."

"What?! She said all that and I'm an idiot for wanting to talk to her?"

"What were you going to say to her, then?"

"Um... I'm not sure, but I would have figured something out!"

"Idiot."

"Damnit, Sasuke, stop calling me an idiot!"

"No."

"Why?!"

"She sacrificed herself to save you, told you she loved you back when Pein attacked, and you never said anything?" Sasuke knew she had feelings for his blonde teammate, but he hadn't known about all that. It was shocking to hear the timid girl had gone so far. And his teammate's reaction to all of it was even more dumbfounding. He wasn't usually one to get involved, but his curiosity was piqued.

"Well, not exactly."

"You did or you didn't. And from her reaction earlier, it seems to me that you did not."

"What's your point? You knocked Sakura-chan out after she confessed to you before you left the village."

"Hn. At least I thanked her first. Besides, this is about you, not me."

"You were the one who stopped me from talking to her just now."

"That's because I knew you didn't know what you were going to say to her. You can't just run into this without thinking like you usually do. This is a delicate matter and she deserves better. She's obviously very hurt so you need to figure out what you are going to say and do before you actually do it."

Naruto hung his head, a little weirded out at his friend sounding so sensitive for once. "You're right. I need to figure out how to explain. And how to make it up to her."

"Hn."

"What, did you use up all the words you allowed yourself for the day? Why do you care so much about this anyway? It's not really like you. And it's not like you know her."

Sasuke just shrugged and said, "She helped me."

"Is that all I get?"

"Hn."

_Flashback_

_It was the first night on their way back to Konoha. Hinata woke up for her watch shift and went out to relieve Sasuke. She found him staring absently into the fire. His face was blank, but his body was tense._

_"Uchiha-san, you can go to bed now. It's time for my watch."_

_"Hn."_

_When he didn't move from his spot she walked closer and sat next to him._

_"Uchiha-san?"_

_"Hn."_

_"Is something on your mind?"_

_Sasuke turned to look at Hinata. She was looking at him, head tilted to the side in curiosity. His brow furrowed a little. Why was she asking? He did not know this girl. Sure, they had been in the same class in the Academy, but they had really never talked before._

_Hinata took his furrowed brow as a sign that she'd angered him and quickly began to apologize._

_"S-sorry! I didn't mean to intrude. I just thought... Nevermind! Sorry for bothering you, Uchiha-san."_

_He looked at her, even more confused. She was way too nice. He'd pretty much ignored her question and instead of calling him out for being rude, she apologized to him. He felt bad for making her nervous. She had helped him out with his garden after all._

_"Sasuke," he said._

_"W-what?" Hinata looked at him, confused._

_"I never liked formalities that much. Call me Sasuke."_

_Hinata's eyes widened a little before she relaxed and smiled slightly._

_"Okay, Sasuke-kun."_

_It was quiet for a few more minutes and Hinata glanced over at him again. He still looked deep in thought and his body was still tense. She didn't want to anger him, but she couldn't stop herself from trying to help. It was just who she was._

_"Um, Sasuke-kun?"_

_"Hn."_

_"You look thoughtful."_

_"Hn."_

_Realizing she wasn't getting anywhere indirectly, she decided to be a little more direct than usual. "Your body is tense. Is there something you are worried about?"_

_Sasuke looked at her again, startled. He wasn't used to company. And he definitely wasn't used to company that could read him. Even Suigetsu, Karin, and Jugo were too wary of him to try to figure him out. Aside from Karin's attempts to seduce him, they usually just let him be._

_"Sorry," she said, "I just wanted to help. I can stop bothering you."_

_"No, it's fine. It's just... why are you trying to help me? You don't know me. It's strange." _

_Hinata just smiled softly before responding, "You are a comrade, right? That makes you precious. And I like to help my precious people."_

_"I betrayed Konoha. I ran away, nearly killed Naruto on multiple occasions, and not long ago I wanted to kill you and all of your precious people in the village. Why are you so quick to make me a precious person? You shouldn't trust me so fast. What if I took advantage and hurt you?"_

_"You wouldn't do that."_

_"How do you know? How can you just trust me like that?" Sasuke was utterly bewildered at this point. He was not a nice person. And he had done some really nasty things. And here was this girl wanting to help him. She called him precious. What. the. hell._

_Hinata was quiet for a moment. "Do you remember Neji?" she finally asked._

_Sasuke didn't know where this was going, but he decided he wouldn't get any answers just ignoring her so he figured he would play along. "Yes. He was your cousin, wasn't he? He was strong."_

_Hinata smiled. "Yes, he was. Very strong. Do you remember the first Chunin exams we all took?"_

_"Yes."_

_"Neji tried to kill me during our fight. He said I was weak. He was angry at me for being in the main branch. I said something to him during the fight that made him so angry he charged at me to kill me. The only reason he didn't was because the Jonin instructors restrained him just in time."_

_Sasuke waited, not sure what this had to do with anything._

_"He died in the war, you know."_

_"I did not know that."_

_"He died to save me. There was an attack heading for Naruto-kun and neither he nor anyone around him had the strength left to block it. So I jumped in front of it, intending to take it for him. The world could survive without me, but this world needs Naruto-kun. As I prepared myself for death, Neji jumped in front of me to take the attack for both of us. He did not survive."_

_Hinata's voice had gotten even softer, though Sasuke was unsure how that was even possible. Still, he thought he was starting to understand what she was trying to say._

_"So, he ended up saving your life? You're saying you were able to forgive him because of that?"_

_"Not quite. I had forgiven him long before that. I was honestly not even angry about his attempt to kill me to begin with."_

_Sasuke was incredulous at this point. Her cousin had pretty much said anything terrible about her he could come up with, beat her down continuously, then tried to end her life. And she is saying she wasn't even mad?_

_"He had his reasons, but that's besides the point. He really changed after his fight with Naruto-kun in the Chunin finals. It took him a little bit to warm up, but he became a caring cousin. He helped me train. He looked out for me. It was like having an older brother. I cherished our bond."_

_Sasuke winced, thinking about his own older brother and the disaster that their relationship had turned into. He was brought back when Hinata began to speak again._

_"My point is, no matter what someone has done in the past, they can change. Yes, you left the village. Yes, you trained under Orochimaru and yes, you wanted at one point to destroy Konoha. But now, you are coming back to serve Konoha. So, you are a comrade, a new precious person. That is why I want to help."_

_"You still shouldn't trust me."_

_"Why not? Naruto-kun does."_

_"Hn. He's an idiot."_

_"He sees the good in people."_

_"You like him."_

_It wasn't a question and Hinata blushed furiously and turned her head so that Sasuke could not see her face. He did, however, see her red ears and decided to end her misery._

_"Fine, so you are going to trust me whether or not I think it's a good idea."_

_She nodded._

_"And you want to help?" _

_She nodded again. The last Uchiha felt strange. He thought his blonde friend was the only one strange enough to care about him. Even Sakura had been unusually quiet this whole trip. He remembered back to when he had almost killed her and inwardly flinched. She probably thinks he's a terrible person. He was disheartened by the idea. Sakura had once loved him and he had thrown everything away for revenge against a person who didn't even deserve it. _

_Hinata glanced back over at Sasuke, who had gone quiet. He looked more and more troubled as the minutes went by. She decided to try one last time._

_"You want to talk about it?"_

_He sighed. It seemed like she wasn't going to give up._

_"I don't think the village is going to think like you and Naruto do."_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"You are so quick to forgive and forget. The village will not be like that."_

_Hinata shook her head. "I have not forgotten. I know who you are and what you've done."_

_Sasuke flinched. He should have known._

_She began speaking again. "We cannot undo what we have already done. However, we can grow from our mistakes and do things differently. I know it is impossible to start over, but it is not impossible to change. You just have to do things in the future that show people who you want to be and soon they will see you as that person instead."_

_"Hn."_

_She smiled slightly at his response and took it to mean he would take her words under consideration._

_After another few minutes passed, he spoke again. "Not many people in the village think like you. They are not going to be so forgiving."_

_"That may be true. However, I will be there. And you have Naruto-kun. And Sakura. It's not much, but that number will grow little by little and before you know it, you'll have friends and comrades. I'm not saying it'll be immediate, but you have people to turn to while it's hard."_

_Sasuke tensed again at the mention of Sakura. "I think you are mistaken about Sakura. She seems wary of me. I can't really blame her. The last time we spoke was not much of a rekindled friendship as much as us trying to kill each other."_

_"You're wrong. Sakura loves you."_

_His eyes widened in shock._

_"She is quiet because she does not know what to say, not because she does not want to. She has grown into such a strong kunoichi. She told me that after you left she knew she needed to do something drastic. So, she asked Tsunade-sama to train her. She wanted to be strong for you like I wanted to be strong for him. She wants to show you she has changed, but doesn't know how to approach you without you thinking she is just coming on to you like the old fangirl Sakura. Just give her time and trust me when I say that you have a friend in her."_

_Sasuke smiled almost imperceptibly. He knew it wouldn't be easy to return, but three friends was not a bad start. He felt more relaxed than he had in a long time and finally stood up._

_"Thank you, Hyuga-san," he said as he began to walk toward the tent he was sharing with Naruto._

_She smiled. "Please, no need to be formal with me if I am not to do so with you."_

_He nodded and went inside the tent for the night._

_End Flashback_

"Shit," said Naruto.

"What?" asked Sasuke.

"You're right. I'm an idiot."

"Hn."

"I need to make things right with Hinata. She's always been there for me, even before the war and the Pein attack. In our first Chunin exams she offered to let me cheat off of her when she saw I didn't have any answers. She gave me ointment after I fought her teammate. And get this, she handmade this ointment! It's the best stuff I've ever used, just don't tell Sakura-chan I said so. And then before my fight with Neji, I was actually feeling like giving up. My confidence was at an all time low. And then she gives me this small speech about being a proud failure and true strength and I went and kicked his ass! I couldn't have done that without her..."

"You care about her."

Naruto blushed slightly. "Well, yeah. I mean she has been there for me more than most. And the things she says to me... it's like she can look inside me and know exactly what I need to hear. Like she knows me better than I know myself. She was the first person to tell me that they loved me. How could I not care about her?"

"Oh. So obviously that means you wouldn't address her feelings. Makes sense."

"Oi! Don't be such a sarcastic bastard."

"I wouldn't have to be if you weren't such an idiot. And you still haven't told me why you haven't said anything to her."

"I didn't know what to say."

"That's it? That's the worst excuse I ever heard."

"...That's just what it boils down to. I didn't know what to say. After she told me she loved me and I thought Pein killed her, I was so angry I went six tails of Kurama immediately. I almost transformed completely. And then later when I felt her chakra, I was so relieved knowing she had survived. And then I got back to the village and got caught up in finally being recognized by the other villagers. It was one of my dreams come true. Then we were so busy rebuilding and then I heard what you did and tried to go convince the Raikage not to kill you. Then I actually saw you again and we had to fight. After that, I did special tailed beast training and then it was the war...

"Once we got back and things were peaceful I saw her one day and realized I hadn't said anything. I almost went up to her, but I panicked. I didn't know what I was supposed to say! I didn't know how I felt about her or how I was supposed to respond. And it had been so long, I didn't know if she hated me for not responding or had stopped loving me. I was afraid. I didn't want to say something about her feelings and then look stupid because she didn't have those feelings for me anymore. And the longer I waited to say something, the more nervous I got and I just never said anything. And now I've messed everything up."

"Yeah."

"Really? All you have for me after that is 'Yeah'? You're no help!"

"What more do you need me to say? She deserves an explanation. And you need to make amends. I already told you what to do. It's up to you to figure out how."

Naruto became quiet and sat there thinking for a while. He knew Sasuke was right, but he still had no idea how to fix things. He decided to go to bed and see how Hinata was in the morning. He would figure out what he would do to make it up to her from there.

* * *

The rest of the journey back to Konoha was an awkward one. Sakura had overheard what happened the night before and was now ignoring both Sasuke and Naruto (one out of nervousness and one out of exasperated anger). Hinata looked like she had fallen asleep crying, if she had slept at all, and her pearly eyes were tinged with red and had bags underneath them.

Naruto had been planning to ask how she was feeling, but seeing her in that state, he realized he didn't yet have anything good to say and spent the whole way home trying to think of what he could do to make it up to her. Between Sakura's moodiness, Sasuke's tension, Hinata's depressed exhaustion, and Naruto's silence, all four shinobi were ready to get away from the awkwardness. Thus, when the gates of Konoha became visible, all four breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the pace to get to Tsunade's office as quickly as possible.

Once in Tsunade's office, the blonde hokage did not know what to make of the odd mood surrounding her shinobi. She expected this mission debriefing to practically be a party with a loud and happy Naruto, a smiling Sakura, and a blushing Hinata. Instead, the parties in front of her looked solemn and you could cut the tension in the office with a kunai.

The scariest thing for Tsunade was the silent blonde in front of her. Sakura and Hinata took turns giving the mission report, flawless as usual, and Sasuke stood off to the side looking unemotional as ever. Tsunade did not miss the angry glares Sakura shot occasionally at Naruto and Naruto's regretful looks toward Hinata. She also did not miss the horrible emotional state that the dark-haired kunoichi was in. Hinata looked paler than usual and her eyes looked tired from either crying or holding back tears. Considering the looks she saw between the group, she assumed something had happened on the mission between the blonde and the quiet girl.

Meanwhile, Naruto was wracking his brain trying to figure out what to say to the sweet girl. He was frustrated that she was always so easily able to snap him out of any bad state and he was standing there unable to think of anything to help. He resolved to ignore Sasuke's advice and attempt to talk to her after the meeting. Improvising was always his forte, anyway, and he couldn't leave this unresolved. Not when she looked like that.

Once the debriefing was finished and a meeting time was set up for Sasuke, Tsunade dismissed the four shinobi. As they were on their way out her door, however, she changed her mind and called Hinata back to her. She had a mission to talk to her about and was originally going to give her the day to recuperate before bringing it up, but she was curious about what happened to depress the girl and figured she'd kill two birds with one stone.

"Hinata, come back for a minute. I have something I wanted to discuss with you."

"Okay, Lady Tsunade," Hinata replied as she turned and headed back to the Hokage's desk. She was relieved that she wouldn't have to walk out of the building with Naruto. She could tell he wanted to say something, and she was not ready to hear it. He had broken her heart and she was utterly devastated. It was going to take some time for her to get over the hurt and she didn't think she could face him until it had faded somewhat.

Naruto scowled that an opportunity to talk with Hinata had been taken from him. He didn't want to wait for her to finish with Tsunade because he knew Sasuke would know what he was waiting for and would disapprove. He usually didn't mind opposing Sasuke, but he knew his friend would ask questions he wasn't ready to answer and really wanted to avoid that for now. Sighing, he decided to accompany Sasuke to what was left of the Uchiha district and promised himself he would find Hinata later.

Meanwhile, Tsunade gestured for Hinata to take a seat and the dark haired kunoichi obliged. "Well, I guess I should let you know why I called you back here. I had planned to give you a little time to recuperate before telling you about this mission, but telling you now will give you more time to decide whether or not you choose to accept it."

Hinata's curiosity was piqued at this point as she wondered what kind of mission involved giving her a choice on whether or not she wanted to do it. It was very rare to receive an optional mission so she was eager to hear what the Hokage had to say. She nodded, letting Tsunade know she was listening.

"Well, as you know, the Five Great Elemental Nations originally became the Allied Nations solely for the purpose of defeating Madara in the Fourth Shinobi War. When the war ended, we extended the treaty for the following year so that we would all be able to focus on rebuilding."

Hinata nodded again, wondering if this was going where she thought it was.

"Now that the year is up, we have all decided that this alliance has benefitted everyone greatly and plan to draw up a new agreement for the next ten years. As part of this agreement, Konoha has volunteered to send one of our shinobi around to live for a while in the other nations. Many of you made names for yourselves in the war and you have all gained even more notoriety in the year since. In taking this mission, you will not only represent Konoha to all of the other nations, but you yourself will become an integral part of our diplomatic relations. Are you interested in hearing more details?"

"I am... very flattered that you are considering me for this mission, but are you sure you want me? I feel like Shikamaru might be better suited for something like this..."

"Oh, don't give me that, Hinata. You are perfect for this and you know it. Thanks to your training as the Hyuuga heiress, you have the etiquette and mediation skills as well as the political knowhow that is needed. Not to mention your natural sweetness and gentle nature makes everyone like you and will ensure that none of the other political figures feel too threatened, despite your reputation as a powerful kunoichi. All in all, you were my first and only choice, though I wanted to give you the opportunity to refuse since I know you have been very involved in clan matters since the war and this means being away from your family and friends for two years."

Hinata's eyes widened at this. Two years? That was a long time. It would be hard to be away from her precious people for so long, but this might be the perfect thing to get her blonde haired, blue eyed crush out of her head for good. And she couldn't deny that this was a great honor as well as a golden opportunity for her and her clan.

"Please let me know what this will entail."

Tsunade smirked, glad that Hinata wasn't going to refuse outright because of some idiotic sense of not being good enough. She truly thought Hinata was perfect for this and was glad she was confident enough in herself to consider the opportunity.

"As I stated previously, this mission will be for two years. You will spend six months living in each nation, beginning with Suna, then on to Iwa, Kiri, and finally Kumo. In each nation you will stay in their ninja village and work closely with their Kages and the top political figures. You will learn about their way of doing things, tell them about the way that we do things, and exchange advice. You will mingle with the various clans in the other nations and hopefully gain Konoha and your clan more trust and personal alliances from them.

"Finally, I would like this to be a training opportunity for you. You have become fearsome with the Gentle Fist and have shown yourself to be interested in branching out, as evidenced recently by your learning medical ninjutsu. This would be a golden opportunity for you in your training. You will be working constantly with some of the most powerful people in this world. I believe you have much to gain in your fighting skills if you decide to take this.

"I know that this is a lot to take in and that you will want some time to consider and make preparations. I would like your answer within three days and if you decide you would like to go, you will leave anytime you wish within the next two weeks."

Hinata was taken aback at this perfect opportunity. Tsunade was right, Hinata had been trying new things in her training and was working on branching out her skills. If she was going to be a good leader of her clan then she wanted to bring some new moves to the table and this was a once in a lifetime chance to train with and get to know the most powerful people in their world. Yes, it would be hard to be away for so long, but she could not pass this up. This would be beneficial for her and her clan and she could use the time away to heal and finally get over the love that she had wasted over half of her life on.

"Thank you for this opportunity, Tsunade-sama. You said I could leave anytime in the next two weeks once I make my decision?"

"That's right."

"Great. I'll leave tomorrow."


	2. Preparations and Goodbyes

**Author's note: Here's my second chapter! I want to thank you all dearly for your comments and reviews so far. I really appreciate the writing advice and encouragement as I am very new to this and only want to improve.**

**I do want to clear up something. I do not mean for this to be a "bash Naruto" fic. I really like Naruto. If I didn't, I wouldn't want him to end up with Hinata. However, I categorized this under Romance and Drama and for dramatic purposes, Naruto is going to be rather clueless in the girl department. At first he will cause some issues and when Hinata gets back, she will cause some of her own. My goal is for both of them to mature throughout the story.**

**Also, yes, Hinata is going to be pretty great in this story. I already think she's awesome, but I'm hoping to make her even more so. The title is Hinata: Sweetheart of the Allied Nations for a reason.**

**This chapter will continue being a little angsty because that's just how I feel, but it'll get a little lighter from there. There'll still be plenty of dramatic moments, but after this the angst should let up. I just want a little more of Hinata dealing with her impression that Naruto does not care about her at all before I get to fixing things for them.**

**Thank you again for your support thus far and I hope you enjoy!**

Hinata: Sweetheart of the Allied Nations

Chapter Two: Preparations and Goodbyes

_"Thank you for this opportunity, Tsunade-sama. You said I could leave anytime in the next two weeks once I make my decision?"_

_"That's right."_

_"Great. I'll leave tomorrow."_

Tsunade's jaw dropped. "Tomorrow?! Are you sure? I mean I was hoping you would take this mission, but that seems rather sudden!"

"Absolutely. I would like to leave as soon as possible."

Now the Hokage knew something was up. She knew that this mission was too good of an opportunity for Hinata to pass up, but she honestly thought she would take the next couple of weeks to spend some time with her family and friends before leaving them for so long. Her precious people were just that, precious to her, and Tsunade had purposefully bargained for extra preparation time for the heiress because she thought she would take it. Hinata's desire for a sudden departure reminded her of the atmosphere in their mission debriefing earlier and she decided she would find out what was going on.

"Okay, Hinata, I know something is up and I know that this has to do with Naruto and your recent mission. Now are you going to tell me or am I going to have to drag it out of you?"

Hinata knew that there was no getting the Hokage to back down. Tsunade was about as stubborn as they come. Plus, she had become something of a mother figure to Hinata since she started her medical training. She was afraid to tell the Hokage, because she knew of Tsunade's close relationship with Naruto, but she couldn't go to her father for advice in this situation and she really didn't want to bother Kurenai with the brunt of it since she was so busy with her baby boy. Hinata took a deep breath and began to recount to Tsunade all that had happened on this latest mission between her and Naruto.

By the time she was finished, Tsunade was seething. Everyone had wondered what had gone on between Naruto and Hinata. It was obvious they weren't dating, but no one really knew what, if anything, had been said between them. Hinata had only confided the fact that Naruto had never responded to her confession in her closest friends and no one else ever brought it up knowing it was kind of a sore spot for the shy girl. Tsunade was pissed that the boy would be so callous towards a girl who had only ever shown him the utmost love and devotion, but she knew Hinata would not want Tsunade fighting her battles and so she decided to figure out a way to help the girl without being too obvious.

"Alright, Hinata. I understand why you are so eager to leave and I guess I can't blame you. I am sad that we will not have more time with you, but I will contact the Kazekage and make sure that they know of your departure tomorrow morning. It is a two day journey to Suna which will give them plenty of time to prepare for your arrival. I will have Shino and Kiba escort you since I know how close you are. Now, I will not keep you any longer. Make whatever preparations you need to and say your goodbyes. I will see you at the front gate at 7 a.m. sharp."

Hinata stood and bowed in gratitude. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama. I appreciate both this opportunity and your preparations for my sudden departure. Thank you for understanding."

Tsunade could not help herself and walked around the desk to hug the dark haired sweetheart. She was really going to miss her.

"No problem. Now you don't have any more time to waste. Go get ready and I will see you in the morning."

As Tsunade watched the young woman leave her office, her face turned devious as she began plotting a way to bring her favorite knucklehead together with the shy sweetheart.

Meanwhile Hinata figured she would head straight to her house to pack. She needed to make a list of everything she would need for the journey and everyone she needed to see before leaving. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

As Hinata walked down the street toward the Hyuga compound, she started to feel a little overwhelmed. She was able to have a bit of a catharsis while telling Tsunade about the situation and was thankful that her Hokage allowed for such an emotional display. Her situation with her father had improved by leaps and bounds, and her immediate family had grown even closer through their shared grief in Neji's passing. However, emotional displays were still rather unusual and pretty strictly private in the Hyuga household so it was nice to have someone who allowed it without making her feel uncomfortable.

Hinata began listing people she needed to see and almost wanted to kick herself for telling Tsunade that she would leave tomorrow. Due to the nature of this mission, she would need a very different set of items than the ones she usually brought with her and packing was going to be a much more time consuming endeavor than usual. Luckily, she knew Hanabi would sit with her and help her pack which would allow for some quality sister time before she left.

She also appreciated the fact that Shino and Kiba would be escorting her to Suna which would give her a couple days of time spent with them to say goodbye. She would have dinner with her family, which left the afternoon to explain the situation and say her goodbyes to Kurenai, the girls, and Neji. Hinata also wanted to make some arrangements within her family to let them know to aid Sasuke while she was away. The dark haired girl felt guilty that she had told him she would be there for him and that she was instead running away for a couple of years. She figured that she could still help him by letting her family know to aid him if he should need it.

As Hinata walked past her favorite bakery, she stopped and decided to pick up some items for lunch to bring to Kurenai's place. Kurenai had been been a mother/older sister figure for Hinata since she became her sensei and it was important to Hinata to say goodbye properly. She knew that the crimson eyed beauty would help her get her feelings in order and give her some advice for restraining her girl friends from going to beat up Naruto. She was hurt, but she had her pride (she was a Hyuga, after all) and she didn't want him to know how much it had affected her. Luckily this mission popped up so she had a perfect excuse to avoid him while doing something productive with her life. If Sakura, Ino, and TenTen teamed up on him like she knew they would want to, nothing good could come of it.

After purchasing their lunch, she quickly found herself in front of Kurenai's apartment door. She knocked quietly, in case little Asuma was sleeping, and almost immediately the door opened up to reveal a smiling Kurenai holding a content looking crimson eyed boy.

"I brought lunch!" Hinata said as she held up her bag of goodies and smiled brightly. It always warmed her heart to see her sensei and her son together.

"Wonderful! I was wondering how that mission of yours went. Come in and we'll talk." Kurenai noticed the pained look on Hinata's face when she mentioned her latest mission and was now rather curious. She led her into the living room where she had a small table and got Asuma settled into his high chair as Hinata sat the sandwiches, fruit, and cinnamon rolls for dessert on the table.

Kurenai quickly heated some hot water for tea and sat down at the table with their drinks. As a sensei and mother it was very easy for her to tell that her former student, now dear friend, had something on her mind. In order to spare the shy girl from having to bring up the topic herself, she asked, "So, why don't you tell me about your mission. You just got back this morning, right? Since you came here so quickly afterward, I'm assuming you want to talk about something that happened during it."

Hinata was almost startled by Kurenai's intuition, but knew her too well to be. Somehow the crimson eyed woman always knew how to get Hinata to talk when something was troubling her. She wasn't sure if it was because Kurenai knew her so well or if she was just gifted in that area. Probably a little of both. She hesitantly began her story, finishing her tale at the same time as their lunch.

"Oh, Hinata. I'm so sorry, dear," Kurenai said quietly as she put her hand on Hinata's shoulder to comfort her.

Hinata couldn't bring herself to look at her sensei, afraid that the emotions she saw on her mentor's face would cause her to break down again. She hadn't wanted to burden Kurenai with the full brunt of her emotions, but it seems her catharsis in the Hokage's office hadn't been quite enough for her to feel better yet. She let the tears silently fall down her face and sipped her tea.

"It's okay," Hinata finally said. "I always figured he hadn't said anything because he didn't feel the same way, but I always had this little bit of hope that it was because of something else and that maybe he could like me. At least now I finally know and can try to get on with my life."

Kurenai's heart went out to the girl. She had known of Hinata's crush probably longer than anyone else. When she watched Hinata get up the nerve to give Naruto that ointment after the Chunin preliminaries, she had seen all the tell-tale signs that the shy little girl had it bad for the Uzumaki. Her teammates had caught on a little after that as well. The former sensei knew that the boy was not good with girls and had probably not meant for things to go that way, but Hinata had told her about all that had been said between them in the war and Kurenai was shocked when there was no progress in their relationship afterward.

The overprotective part of her wanted to trap Naruto in the worst genjutsu she could come up with, but she knew it was no use. After all, Hinata wouldn't want anyone trying to scare the boy into dating her. Kurenai had honestly thought Naruto might give her a chance one day and that he was just trying to get up the nerve. Again, she knew his only real experience with girls was constantly asking out Sakura and getting hit hard for his effort. She thought he might just not know how to go about things. With this recent mission, though, it seemed pretty hopeless now. All she could do is comfort her former student and assure her that there would be someone who would one day make her as happy as she deserved.

"Why don't I get us some more tea and we move to the couch? I'm sure little Asuma would love to be held by his favorite Aunt!" Kurenai smiled to herself as she saw Hinata perk up a bit. Her former student absolutely adored her son and doted on him even more than Shikamaru, which was difficult to manage. Hinata picked up the boy and made her way to the couch while Kurenai got some more tea.

As Kurenai, sat down she asked, "So, what do you plan on doing?"

Hinata thanked her again for the tea and told her about the new mission she had received. "Since I leave tomorrow, I wanted to make sure I said a proper goodbye today. I'm sorry I took up so much of our time with my story," she said as she finished up.

It took Kurenai a few moments to process the idea of Hinata being gone for so long. She didn't want to admit it, but she knew this would be the easiest way for Hinata to get over her feelings for the Uzumaki. He wasn't exactly the easiest person to avoid since he was always present around the village. And it didn't help that now he had that stupid fan club following him around like love sick puppies. Kurenai knew that seeing those women flirt shamelessly with Naruto had already been painful for Hinata and after this, she knew it would be unbearable for a while. This mission provided the opportunity the girl needed to get away for a while. And, since Hinata was such a dedicated kunoichi, she would be so focused on her political duties and training that she would hopefully be able to keep herself too distracted to wallow in misery.

"Well, Hinata, I can't say it won't be difficult to be away from you for so long, but I do think you made the right choice. This is a good opportunity for your career and it is a good opportunity to get past this hard time in your personal life. Go, make friends, get stronger, and come back and show him how stupid he is for tossing you aside! In the meantime I expect you to write and keep me updated on the goings on.

"You know Kiba and Shino will depend on me to keep them updated since Kiba is a terrible pen pal and Shino has been so busy lately with ANBU training."

Hinata giggled at the idea of her canine loving teammate and his terrible skill with correspondence. She would make sure to send Kurenai news, but would have to throw in a note and maybe a photo here and there to the boys so that they didn't feel left out.

Hinata and Kurenai talked for another twenty minutes or so about life with little Asuma, different happenings around the village, and speculations for Hinata's upcoming journey. Soon, they both realized Hinata needed to head out as she still had much to do to prepare.

Kurenai stood up, taking her son back into her arms, and walked Hinata to the front door. She looked at the young woman she had known for so long and whom she had helped raise while the Hyuga head was still a less than satisfactory father figure. The former sensei saw the nervousness playing on Hinata's delicate features and smiled as she wondered just who exactly would be coming back from the trip. She had no doubt the young woman would grow even more beautiful and would become even stronger. However, she wondered if time with so many political heads and strong shinobi would take away some of that sweet, shy demeanor that was so very Hinata. If perhaps all the politics and training would harden her and make her more skeptical. No matter what, Kurenai knew that the Hinata that returned would be a force to be reckoned with, whether she retained the quiet strength she had now or whether she oozed confidence more like her younger sister.

Red eyes met ivory, both sets glistening with unshed tears as they conveyed with a look how much they would miss one another. After a long hug and wishes of luck and safety, Hinata made her way from Kurenai's apartment down the road, thankful for yet another wonderful person in her life.

* * *

A half an hour later, Hinata found herself sitting in a booth at a local cafe, chatting with her three closest girl friends. The dark haired beauty had gone straight to TenTen's apartment from Kurenai's place and told her it was important that they find Sakura and Ino for an afternoon get-together. TenTen's chocolate brown eyes took note of her friend's puffy eyes and slightly pink nose, but decided to hold off on commenting on her obvious distress, figuring that this was probably the reason for their meeting.

The two quickly found the bright haired kunoichis conversing in the Yamanaka flower shop, Sakura leaning against the counter while Ino worked on an arrangement for their display case. Sakura had of course already told the blonde about what she had overheard, which Hinata had expected. She knew Sakura wouldn't have said anything if she hadn't been certain that Hinata was going to discuss the whole incident with all of them anyway.

After a few minutes of idle chit chat and placing their orders - just tea for Hinata who had just come from her lunch with Kurenai - TenTen had finally had enough waiting.

"Okay, Hinata, what exactly happened to you? You show up at my door looking like you've been crying, drag us all out for some quality girl time, and then proceed to not tell me what I've been dying to know since I saw you. So, spill it so I know who to cut."

Her words elicited a small sincere smile from Hinata. TenTen had quickly become Hinata's best friend after the war. They were both greatly affected by Neji's death and neither had really spent much time with other girls before. They started out meeting by the memorial stone erected for those ninja who died in the Fourth Great Ninja War, soon going to grab a bite to eat afterward to discuss their mutual deceased precious person. These outings quickly became more planned and less morbidly spontaneous than meeting in front of a memorial stone and the girls soon found they got along famously.

Both enjoyed having someone their age to share certain grievances only a fellow kunoichi their age could understand and they also found training together to be mutually beneficial. TenTen had also taken to being somewhat protective of Hinata, both out of friendship and a feeling that Neji would appreciate her looking after the cousin he had treasured. Hinata knew that her friend had noticed her distraught state and was surprised it had taken her this long to comment. She decided to start from the beginning even knowing that Ino had already heard some from Sakura, since Ino much preferred hearing these kinds of things "straight from the source" as she would say.

Hinata fidgeted a little, a bit worried about what the reactions would be once she finished, and took in a deep breath.

"Well," she began, "I guess you could say I finally got my answer from Nar- ... Uzumaki-san regarding my feelings for him."

"..."

"What?!" screeched TenTen in place of Ino and Sakura, as they were already aware. The change in address did not go unnoticed by any of the three girls. Hinata was determined to put distance between herself and her feelings for the blonde hero, and this was just one way for her to go about it.

"Um, you see, I was gathering wood on our latest mission and as I was walking back I heard Sasuke-kun asking Naruto why he continues to ask Sakura out. I was... intrigued... and I couldn't help myself from listening to his response. Call it morbid curiosity, if you want.

"Anyway, Uzumaki-san listed some of Sakura's good qualities as usual, but Sasuke-kun then proceeded to ask him if there weren't any other girls who wouldn't physically assault him if he asked them out. Naruto just told him that the only others were fangirls..."

Ino and TenTen hadn't been told any specifics until now, and Hinata watched both of their expressions go from shocked, to horrified, to positively murderous in the span of a couple of seconds. Before they could say anything, Hinata continued her story, anxious to let them know that she herself had confronted the shinobi in question on his words.

"At that point, I was so surprised and hurt that I dropped the wood. This, of course, drew their attention to me. I just couldn't take it and had to ask him if he really did think of me as a fangirl. He tried to console me by telling me that he didn't consider me a fangirl and that he hadn't thought of me when answering Sasuke-kun, but that just made it worse! I mean, Sasuke essentially asked him if there was anyone he would consider dating in the village and I didn't even cross his mind..."

"Oh, honey."

"I'm so sorry."

"What happened next? Did you tell him off? Sakura said something about you yelling and I want to hear about it!"

Hinata blushed, remembering her outburst. "Well... after everything we'd been through together and all the years I'd cared for him, I just kind of... snapped? I don't regret anything that I did, but after all this time wondering why he never said anything and trying not to think about him at night when I was alone... It just hurt to know that all my insecurities were actually true. He never even thought about me. So I kind of lost it. I told him that I wasn't some superficial fangirl, that I made it very obvious what my feelings were, told him I had cared about him and believed in him from the very beginning, and then 'thanked' him for clearing things up for me."

TenTen's eyes were wide, surprised that her friend finally stood up for herself, happy that she finally had some kind of closure, and so sad that this was how that had come about. She reached out and put her hand on Hinata's, showing her support. Hinata glanced up and gave her friend a small smile.

"That wasn't all!" Sakura jumped in, eager to tell the girls how impressive Hinata had been. Hinata's summary had not done it nearly enough justice. "Hinata was so awesome. I guess Naruto tried to grab her before she could walk off, but Hinata was all like 'Unhand me Uzumaki-san' or something to that extent. I was like 'CHA that'll tell him!' And then I thought I heard Sasuke-kun say something, but he was so quiet I couldn't quite tell."

The three girls looked at Hinata expectantly. It sounded like Sasuke had stood up for her somewhat and they were all curious as to why this would be since the two had never really talked before.

"Sasuke-kun helped me get away. He saw how upset I was and told Naruto to let me go and let me take his first watch shift so that I wouldn't have to come back for a little while."

"Sasuke-kun, is it?" teased Ino. "Since when is Miss 'I'm beyond polite to everyone' so familiar with Uchiha Sasuke?"

Sakura felt her stomach churn a little when Hinata blushed. She had noticed they seemed to be a little more comfortable around each other - well, as comfortable as Sasuke looked around anyone - and was curious as to the reason for the change. Hinata was caring and beautiful and Sakura couldn't help but feel a little worried that the sweet girl would get to her crush and she'd lose her chance. She quickly squashed those thoughts as she realized that Hinata would never do something like that to her.

Hinata noticed the uncomfortable look on Sakura's face and began to explain so that her friend would stop worrying, "Originally I was scheduled for the second watch, and I already mentioned that Sasuke had the first shift. The night before all of this happened, I got up to relieve him, but he just sat there staring at the fire. I don't really know him very well, but I thought he looked kind of upset so I asked him what was wrong. We talked and I found out he was a little worried about what the village was going to do and think of him when he came back. I just assured him that all he had to do was show everyone he had changed and that he had Naruto, Sakura, and myself to support him."

Her three friends looked at her for a few moments in shock before Ino cracked up.

"Oh my goodness, Hinata! I can't believe he actually admitted being worried about something! Leave it to you to comfort _the_ Uchiha Sasuke, avenger, student of Orochimaru and the guy who killed Danzo among many others! Seriously, that is rich!"

Hinata's eyes got wide for a moment as she begged, "Please, Ino, don't tell anyone about that! I'm sure he wouldn't want everyone to know and I don't want to betray his trust. I just didn't want y'all thinking there was something else going on between the two of us. I think he just talked to me because I caught him off guard. He was just a little extra nervous since Sakura didn't talk to him the whole mission and he thought if she hated him that much, then everyone else would even more. I assured him that she did not hate him and that he had us to support him. Which reminds me, please watch out for him. I promised I would help him out, but now that I'm going to be gone for two years I want to make sure he has as much support as I can get for him before I go."

"TWO YEARS?!" three voices shrieked in unison.

Hinata looked sheepish as she realized she hadn't yet told them the other reason she wanted to talk to all of them. "Well, um, that was kind of the other reason I wanted to talk to you. When we got back, Hokage-sama offered me a two year diplomatic mission. I'll be living in each of the other major hidden villages for six months, training and working to better our relations with them."

"Oooh, is that what Tsunade-sama wanted to talk to you about when we left?" asked Sakura. She had been curious, but had forgotten about it in the excitement about Hinata's confrontation with Naruto.

"Yes," Hinata nodded. "It's a great opportunity for myself and my clan. It'll give me a chance to get stronger and give me some time away to get over him..."

They all knew what she was saying.

Sakura's eyes were soft as she looked at the girl who had so quickly become one of her best friends. "That's understandable. That idiot can be kind of hard to get away from. He's just so damn loud."

"Psh, look who's talking Forehead," chirped Ino, trying to lighten the mood. They were all sad that their friend was hurt and were really going to miss her.

"Shut it, Ino-pig," Sakura ground out.

"I still want to punch that jerk in the face. Who does he think he is! How could he forget about the sweetest girl in the village! And after everything she's done for him!" TenTen seethed. She had been upset with Naruto's treatment of Hinata for a while, and her mood was already soured knowing her closest friend was going to be gone for two years. The weapons mistress was out for blood.

Ino was also indignant, but Sakura was torn. She knew Naruto was a good person and she felt for him like she would a brother. The pink haired girl could not understand how someone who had been so eager for recognition could just ignore the one who had given him the strongest form of it. She resolved to give him a good smack and then talk to him about it now that everything was out in the open.

The girls sat there for another half hour discussing what they thought Hinata's mission would be like. Ino was sure she was going to meet some "ridiculously hot guys" and was giving her tips for flirting. She also asked her to keep an eye out for anything interesting fashion-wise. Apparently Kiri was famous for some extra nice silk they produced and Kumo was considered very fashion forward. TenTen was asking Hinata to keep an eye out for any awesome weapons and telling her she would pay her back if she would send her anything she found that was particularly interesting. Sakura was eager to hear about the different medical facilities and procedures Hinata would find in the other hidden villages. She had seen some interesting things from some of the other medics during the war, but obviously hadn't had a chance to ask about them considering the situation. Hinata promised all of them that she would keep them updated and send both correspondence and presents while she was away.

It was getting later in the afternoon and Hinata wanted to make sure she would have a chance to visit Neji before dinner time. The girls walked together back to the Yamanaka flower shop so Hinata could pick up some lilies for Neji, which Ino provided no charge. She gave each of the girls a hug, letting them know what time she would be heading out in the morning as they were insisting on seeing her off, and set out for the Fourth Ninja War Memorial Stone.

* * *

"Hello, Nii-san, I came to tell you goodbye for a while."

Hinata knelt in front of the memorial and lay her flowers on the ground before it.

"I know I stopped by before my last mission, but things have been really eventful since then. I've been given a chance to better the diplomatic relations between Konoha and the rest of the Allied Nations. I'm a little scared to be given something so important. I'm essentially agreeing to be the face of Konoha aside from the Hokage herself. I have to appear strong, clever, distinguished... I know I have all the training for it, but it's like a battle - you train and train, but once you are in the midst of the real thing everything feels so different and you can't afford the mistakes you usually make in training. You were always so strong and proud. No one ever doubted your strength, even though you were from the branch family. I'm going to need your strength, Nii-san."

As Hinata sat and discussed her hopes and fears, Naruto was searching the village for her. He had gone with Sasuke to what was left of the Uchiha district and talked with him about his plans for the reconstruction and what he thought the upcoming meeting would entail. Once they finished talking, he set out to find Hinata and try to clear things up between them. He still wasn't sure exactly what he wanted to say, but he was sure that he didn't want to lose her. After a half hour with no results, he headed to a relatively isolated spot and gathered nature energy. Once in Sage Mode he quickly located her chakra signature and headed her direction.

Naruto arrived where Hinata was, but he stopped before stepping into the clearing as he was able to hear her talking. He hid himself behind a tree, listening to what she was saying.

"Please forgive me, Nii-san. I feel like I sound so ungrateful. It's just that I've loved him for so long, and admired him even longer than that. He really did save me. And he saved you and our family owes so much of our closeness to him. It just hurts so much to know he has been such a huge part of my life, yet it seems he hardly knows I exist. And it's not like I never see him. He asks Sakura out in front of me so often. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but it still hurts every time, like being stabbed in the chest." As Hinata says this she unconsciously rubs the scar on her chest from Pein. Naruto sees this and flinches.

"I just can't take it anymore. I knew it was hoping too much that he cared for me like I care for him, but after finding out just how little he thinks of me... I kind of wish you had let me take that attack from the Ten Tails. I would have been content to die for Naruto, both for love and the good of the world. But I know how you and TenTen felt about each other. You could have married and had a family, had a life filled with love. And you would have been such a great clan leader. Instead I'm here, useless and lovesick. And then I feel even worse because you sacrificed yourself for me and Naruto and I'm just complaining!

"Well, I'm done with that. I'm going to do what I have to to get past this. I will not let your sacrifice for me be in vain."

As Hinata finished, she heard a familiar voice greet her. Surprised, she turned to face the speaker and saw Sasuke standing there with his hands in his pockets. The dark haired girl wiped the tears from her face and gave him a small, but genuine smile. The last Uchiha extended a hand to help her up, which she took with a quiet "Thank you."

"Hello, Sasuke-kun, are you here for the memorial? I was just leaving if you wanted to be alone."

Sasuke's eyes raked over the many names, surprised yet pleased to see his brother's among them. "No, actually I was looking for you."

"Oh! Sure! Um, did you need my help with something?"

Sasuke shifted on his feet, looking a little sheepish, and mumbled something.

"Um, sorry, I couldn't really hear you... Could you repeat that?"

"I said I was wondering if you could give me some pointers for replanting my garden. I didn't know if there were any special steps I needed to take."

Hinata gave Sasuke yet another smile and said, "Definitely! Actually, would you mind if I just came with you and showed you? I have something I wanted to tell you anyway."

"Sure." Sasuke turned and began to walk away, indicating for Hinata to follow him.

Blue eyes watched the two leave. Naruto was frozen to his spot, overwhelmed by Hinata's words. He had no idea that he affected her so much. Sure, he'd heard her confession, but he hadn't really let himself consider just how important he was to her. He hadn't exactly had time to sit and think on her words and actions until after the war, and even at that point he realized he didn't really know what true love was.

He had thought that he loved Sakura when he was younger, but that was just a crush. She was attractive and popular and she gave him attention, even if it was negative attention for the longest time. They had grown closer, being on the same team, but she would always love Sasuke and he knew this. So why did he continue to ask her out? Did he really think she was the only girl in the village that knew who he was? No, he knew that Hinata knew him better than most, despite them not talking very often. When her teammates questioned whether it was really him who had come to her rescue during the war, she had assured them with just a look in his eyes. Besides that, it seemed that whenever they did interact in the past she had this ability to speak to his very core. She never made him feel stupid, though he knew she was very smart. In fact, he had been completely vulnerable in front of her more than anyone besides maybe Pervy Sage and instead of taking advantage or making fun of him, she would make him feel even better than before.

Naruto thought back on all the times she had helped him. Knowing that she had watched him for so many years, silently cheering him on, believing in him when no one else did, Naruto began to feel warm. He had been so focused on Sakura, when there was another beautiful girl right in front of him. And he didn't even have to try to impress her. She had seen the good and the bad and she loved him. She had risked so many things for him over the years. He still couldn't say he fully understood love, but he could say that now that he thought about it, _really_ thought about it, she did make him feel loved.

Realizing this, Naruto made up his mind then and there. Here was a girl who was beautiful yet modest, strong yet gentle, smart but not pretentious, selfless, caring, and she made him feel loved. This was all he needed to know that he could fall for her. Today he would plan and starting tomorrow, he would get Hinata to give him another chance. He would do anything in his power to make up for all her years of hurting. He would show her that her faith was not misplaced.

As he walked towards his apartment, he thought of the strange exchange he had seen between the pale eyed beauty and his best friend. He certainly found it odd that she seemed so comfortable around him. Most of the villagers, shinobi and civilian alike, were currently wary of the last Uchiha considering his past. Naruto knew that Sasuke had let go of his hatred, but he was by no means considerate. Sasuke had actually held out a hand to help Hinata up and he'd even looked embarrassed in front of her! That was a side Sasuke had a hard time showing to Naruto and he was his closest friend! And what could Hinata have had to tell him? The thought of her smiling so brightly at the man so many women fawned over made Naruto feel strangely uncomfortable. Maybe he could talk to Sasuke about it...

* * *

Hinata arrived at the Hyuga compound just in time for dinner. She found that her father and sister already knew of her mission as Tsunade had discussed it with Hiashi before offering it to Hinata. The Hokage knew that an unsealed Hyuga being out of the village for so long and living in the other Hidden Villages, including the one that had attempted to kidnap her years ago, would be a delicate matter.

Hiashi had been understandably reluctant despite the current peace. However, Tsunade had handled the arrangements perfectly and the clan head received assurances not only from Tsunade, but from the other Kages as well. This had eased his mind along with the knowledge that Tsunade would be periodically sending over Konoha shinobi for various missions like chunin exam planning so there would be familiar ninja around that could aid Hinata should anything get suspicious.

Considering their past relationship, Hinata couldn't help but beam at her father's concern for her safety. She knew that part of it was concern for the Byakugan, but her father left no doubt that he was mainly concerned for her personal safety. Hiashi also expressed his pride in Tsunade's determination to have Hinata for this mission. He knew this was both a great honor and a wonderful opportunity for her as an individual and for their clan. The mission would guarantee her a spot as one of the most important advisors to the Hokage and personal relationships with some of the most important figures in the Elemental Nations.

After Hinata informed her family of her rather abrupt plans for departure and the initial shock had been dealt with, father and daughters shared a pleasant meal together. Hinata was thankful her father had not pressed the matter and once dinner was over Hanabi accompanied her older sister to her room in order to assist with her packing. Hinata kept her usual training clothes and weapons, but also made sure to pack kimonos for the days she was working with the political heads instead of training. She wanted to make a good impression and Hanabi was adamant that her usual purple jacket and ninja pants were not going to cut it.

Hinata enjoyed getting to spend this time with Hanabi. When they were younger, they had mostly been pitted against one another to see who was the worthier heiress which had (unsurprisingly) not fostered much sisterly affection. However, their earlier relationship meant that they treasured their current closeness even more.

As they gathered items and folded, Hinata told Hanabi all about what happened on her most recent mission. Hanabi had never really interacted with the blond Hokage aspirant, but had supported the crush in the past in order to make her sister happy. So, when she heard about what happened, her eyes narrowed and the more devious of the sisters began plotting a way to get back at the young hero.

Hanabi made sure not to mention her intentions out loud, however, because she knew her sister would try to dissuade her and the younger of the two was not about to have a pointless disagreement the night before Hinata left for two years. Besides, it's not like she would listen to her older sister anyway. Hinata was too nice for her own good and Hanabi liked to make up for that for her.

Once everything was packed in bags and storage seals, the sisters bid one another goodnight. Hanabi gave her sister an uncharacteristic hug and hurried away to bed so she wouldn't have to see Hinata's eyes get teary as they always did when she showed her physical affection. The eldest just smiled and settled into her bed, too worn out emotionally to stay up worrying.

As Hinata drifted off to sleep, she considered the fact that her life was about to change drastically. She was determined to make it a change for the better.

* * *

**Author's Note: Well there you have it! Writing so many different characters is definitely going to take some getting used to. I rewrote the last bit with her family like 6 times and think it's about as good as it's going to get.**

**Next up is Suna which I'm thinking should be good fun. I always enjoy the Sand Siblings and am looking forward to attempting them myself.**

**As for Naruto's feelings, they will continue to develop. I am basing them off of a relationship of some friends of mine and my husband. Their story was very similar to how I imagined Naruto's feelings coming around. He does not love her yet, but aside from her blow up she has gone out of her way to make him know he is loved and this is the foundation of his feelings for her.**

**Also, Sasuke and Hinata will just be friends, but I plan on making their relationship as confusing as possible for Naruto.**


	3. Suna

**Author's Note: Third chapter is finally here! I sincerely apologize for the wait, but a lot has happened since posting the last chapter. I had about two-thirds of this written and then I started a new job, we sold our house, and my baby started crawling and is everywhere she shouldn't be all the time. So, it took a while to get it finished up.**

**On the bright side, though the chapter took extra long, it is also about one and a half times the length of the last couple chapters so at least you get some extra content for the wait!**

**This chapter is Hinata's time in Suna. For some reason I just had this vision of Hinata and Gaara's first interactions being super awkward and unfortunate so I'm kind of hoping it feels that way when you read it. You'll understand why a little later on in the chapter, but I wanted to give you a heads up.**

**Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until the next chapter to see Naruto's reaction to Hinata being gone for two years. Because this is Hinata's time in Suna, there isn't a lot of NaruHina interaction here, but there is some development for it so I hope you won't be disappointed.**

**I wanted to thank you all for being patient and for all of the reviews and messages. They really kept me going when I was literally only finding enough time to write one or two sentences at a time.**

**I also want to thank Ayrmed for mentioning my story in her own Love's Never Easy. If you haven't read it, you totally should.**

**I'll stop now and let you get on to the story. Enjoy!**

Hinata: Sweetheart of the Allied Nations

Chapter Three: Suna

As Hinata took in the front gate of Suna looming in front of her, she kicked herself for becoming so complacent for the last couple of days. After she explained everything to Kiba and Shino, who growled and buzzed angrily, they decided to spend the rest of their time treating the trip like any other mission. Shino asserted that there was no point in dwelling on Hinata's upcoming separation from them. He said it was much more logical to enjoy their current time together as they always did so that they had more precious moments to remember in their time apart. Hinata lunged at Shino with a hug, sniffled a bit, then smiled brightly at her two closest friends. She loved the girls and she was truly happy with her father and sister now, but these boys along with Kurenai had been like family longer than anyone else in her life and she treasured them dearly.

Over the past two days of traveling Hinata had almost allowed herself to forget about her upcoming adventure. She focused on spending time with her teammates and hadn't allowed herself to feel either trepidation or excitement for the impending mission. However, the intimidating wall of the city of Sand shocked her back to reality and she was suddenly confronted with the enormity of what she was about to do.

The male members of Team Kurenai noticed Hinata's state of mind and took it upon themselves to help in their own way. Shino adopted the task of greeting the guards at the gate and explaining their reason for being there. Luckily, the guards had already been informed to look out for their arrival and in no time they were on their way to the Kazekage tower. As they followed the Suna shinobi, Kiba put his arm around his nervous teammate and flashed her a reassuring grin. Even Akamaru gave her hand a lick before trotting along beside her.

Once they reached the tower they were quickly shown into the Kazekage's office. Gaara looked up from his paperwork as they were announced, teal eyes scrutinizing the group that had just been ushered in. He recognized them from the war and as part of the Konoha 12, but did not know any of them personally.

"Welcome to Suna," he greeted them in a tone that almost sounded like a warning. Hinata assumed this was just how he was and smiled at him as Shino gave a quiet nod and Kiba waved awkwardly.

"Thank you, Kazekage-sama. We are honored to be here in your lovely city," Hinata spoke as she bowed. It was almost too quiet to hear, but she hadn't stuttered in front of the Kage and with the current state of her nerves, she was content with that.

The red-head appraised her for a moment before nodding. He turned his attention to Shino and Kiba.

"I understand you two were assigned an additional mission after you leave Suna."

"Yes. We have a delivery mission to complete before we return to Konoha," Shino replied.

"I have arranged a room for the two of you so that you have the option of resting here tonight before leaving if you so choose. I am not aware of the time constraints for your mission so I will understand if you need to decline."

"That sounds great! We're good on time, right Shino?" Kiba couldn't help but smile. It wasn't too often that shinobi got to sleep in a proper room on a mission so he did not want to pass up the opportunity.

The stoic male seemed to consider the offer for a moment before replying, "Indeed. We appreciate your hospitality."

Gaara motioned to the shinobi who had escorted Team Kurenai into his office to show the males to their room for the night. They thanked the Kazekage once more before turning to Hinata.

Shino put his hand on her shoulder as both a gesture of comfort and confidence in her. Kiba threw propriety to the wind and swept her up into a big bear hug.

"You'll come down to see us off in the morning, right?" he asked Hinata, though he already knew her answer.

"Of course," she replied, trying to hold back tears. It would not do to cry in front of a Kage.

Kiba grinned so that his canines showed and gave her a wink before turning and following Shino and the Sand shinobi to their room.

Once the door was shut, Hinata suddenly realized she was alone with the very handsome, very intimidating Kazekage. She slowly turned to face him properly, ashamed that she had forgotten decorum when parting with her teammates, and fought the urge to poke her fingers together.

Gaara was simply sitting at his desk, staring at her. She wasn't sure if he was waiting for her to speak or if he was going over instructions in his mind before relaying them to her. She was startled out of her thoughts when he spoke.

"You are Hyuga Hinata, Leaf shinobi and heiress of the Hyuga clan?"

"That is correct, Kazekage-sama." She was suddenly kicking herself as she realized she had not yet introduced herself. How much more rude could she be!

"Are you aware of what you will be doing during your time here in Suna?"

"Yes, well, not exactly." Gaara raised a brow and Hinata was starting to think this couldn't possibly get any worse.

She started to explain, "Tsunade-sama told me the basics of the mission when she debriefed me. She told me I would be working with you and other political figures, but she did not specify anything more than that."

"I see."

"I'm sorry. I should have asked for more specifics when I accepted the mission."

"Hm. It's nothing that can't be fixed."

After this there was another awkward silence during which Gaara continued to stare at her. Hinata was used to penetrating gazes, having been raised a Hyuga, but the way he kept looking at her like he knew something about her unnerved her. It was not one of her proudest moments, but she found herself squirming almost imperceptibly under his gaze. Unfortunately for her, he caught the movement and his facial expression went from impassive to a frown.

"I frighten you."

Hinata did not feel it would benefit her to be dishonest in this situation. "I do find myself a little intimidated, yes."

At this the frown increased. He stayed like that for a few seconds and let out a sigh that almost sounded forlorn to Hinata, though she did not understand why that would be.

"I suppose it cannot be helped. Since we have to work together for the next six months I suppose I should assure you that my days of bloodlust are over. I admit that when I was younger, I allowed the tailed beast inside of me to control a lot of my actions, but that is no longer the case. I take my job as the protector of this city and as a part of the alliance very seriously and would never cause harm to those who do not deserve it."

Hinata was rendered speechless for a moment. He took her silence as hesitance to accept his short speech and decided to add one more reassurance: "If the city that once considered me a monster can accept me as their protector then I hope you will be able to come to that as well."

The speech sounded practiced to her, as if he'd had to say it before. However, the pain in this statement as well as the insecurity barely perceptible in his voice knocked Hinata back into her senses. Her eyes widened when she realized he mistook her own insecurity about her initial impression on him as her thinking he was a bloodthirsty monster. This was officially the worst start to a diplomatic mission she could think of. She had to fix this both for the sake of the mission and because she felt terrible about making him feel the same rejection she had seen affect Naruto so strongly as a child.

"N-no! You misunderstand! I could never think you were a monster!"

Gaara looked at her, slightly surprised by her outburst, but obviously wary of believing her. This was an issue he was unfortunately familiar with. With his violent past, many had been hesitant to accept him even after he became the acting Kazekage. Gaara was used to people trying to act like they weren't afraid of him out of fear of his reaction rather than respect or actually believing him to be peaceful now.

"You were part of the group that took the Chunin exams that led to the Sound invasion. I'm sure you were able to observe my... tendencies back then. I do not fault you for holding them against me."

"Oh! I did see something in the Forest of Death, but I assure you that is not the reason I am intimidated." Hinata took a deep breath, knowing what she was about to reveal was not proper for a diplomat, but one look at his wary expression made her plow forward.

"Honestly as honored as I am to have been offered this mission, the whole thing is pretty overwhelming. I was anxious about making a good impression and I felt like I must have made a fool of myself first by the manner in which said goodnight to my teammates and then I forgot to introduce myself and I was just mortified at how I must have seemed especially to someone like you."

"Someone like me?"

"Yes. You are around my age yet you are Kazekage. That in itself is impressive, but I also saw you fight fiercely in the war. Not to mention I heard about your fight with the Akatsuki and how at the end you essentially sacrificed yourself for your city. All of the Kages are powerful and respected in their own right, and are well deserving of it, but to have achieved all that so early in life is both inspiring and intimidating."

Gaara sat quietly for a moment, taking this in.

"So, you are not scared of me because you think I am a monster?"

"Not at all. You are an impressive young man, Kazekage-sama, and someone I am very excited to get to work with and know."

Hinata felt she must be imagining it, but she almost thought she could see a faint pink dusting the redhead's cheeks.

Suddenly, as if the entire conversation had not happened, Gaara began to speak again in his normal emotionless tone.

"Temari should be arriving any minute now to show you to where you will be staying for the next six months. You will reside in the guest quarters of the Kazekage home."

At the realization that she would be sharing a roof with the Kazekage and his family, Hinata found herself blushing slightly.

"Thank you for your hospitality. I assure you you do not have to go out of your way to accommodate me."

"It's no trouble. My sister insisted and I agreed that it would be convenient for your mission."

The dark haired girl gave a small smile at the thought of Temari's 'insistence'. The Sand kunoichi would often spend time with herself, Ino, Sakura, and TenTen whenever she was in Konoha so she was more than aware of how persuasive the blonde could be.

As if summoned by Hinata's thoughts, Temari barged into the office, not bothering to knock. Though annoyed by this habit of his sister's, Gaara knew better than to ruin her good mood with yet another argument about her method of entry.

"Hinata!" Temari exclaimed as she threw her arms around the petite young woman. "I'm so glad you're here!"

Gaara raised his brow again, curious as to why so many people felt the need to embrace the young woman in front of him. Temari loved her brothers, but she was not often physically affectionate. She was much more likely to hit someone than hug them.

Temari continued, "Come with me and I'll show you where you're staying. Did Gaara tell you you'll be living with us? I can't wait to have another girl in the house."

At this point Temari began to drag Hinata out of the room until Gaara cleared his throat. His older sister had the decency to look a little sheepish. "Sorry, little brother, I guess I got a little excited. Do you need her any longer?"

"There's nothing emergent," he answered. Before she could disappear with Hinata, however, he addressed the dark haired beauty once more, "You can take the morning and afternoon to see off your teammates and get situated in your rooms. We will continue our discussion at dinner tomorrow. Meet me at 7. Temari will tell you how to get there."

At this he nodded goodbye to a bewildered blonde and bluenette. Hinata bowed before following Temari out the door. She couldn't help but notice that Temari looked just as confused as she felt herself. She was appreciative of having most of a day to settle in, but was expecting her debriefing to be in his office, not over dinner. And the way he'd phrased it made it sound as though it would be just the two of them.

"Hey, Hinata?"

"Yes?"

"Do you mind if I ask what exactly it was that you were discussing that Gaara wants to continue at dinner?"

"Hm? Oh, sure. I mean I think he was just going to explain to me more about what I will be doing while I'm here in Suna."

"That's all?"

"Well, that's all I can think of. Though I have to say I expected it to be an official debriefing in his office instead of over dinner. Does he do this often?"

"No. Not at all. That's why I asked."

"Oh, so I was right in thinking it was strange? I didn't want to sound rude by questioning it, but it was definitely not what I expected."

"It is very strange. Especially since he's having you join him for dinner tomorrow."

"Is there something special about tomorrow?"

"Well, it's just that Gaara has a tradition. He goes to dinner every week on the same day at the same time at this same restaurant."

Hinata now understood why the day was special, but she was still not sure why it was so odd that she was joining him.

"Ah, he probably wanted to make sure the meeting didn't disrupt his weekly tradition so he decided to have me come along instead," she reasoned.

Temari, though, seemed hesitant to accept this. "I understand why you might think that, but Gaara never lets anyone join him for that weekly dinner. Everyone knows not to bother him unless it's an S class emergency. He's never even invited me or Kankuro to come."

"W-what?!" At this Hinata began to panic. "But, then why did he invite me to dinner? Maybe he didn't realize what day it was?"

"No, that can't be it. Gaara has an unusually good sense of time. Kankuro always jokes it's because hourglasses use sand to measure time and Gaara's practically made of the stuff. I think it has something to do with the fact that he had insomnia as a child. Whatever it is, he knows exactly what day it is."

At this point the blonde looked over at her friend and saw that she looked about ready to burst with anxiety. In hindsight Temari realized she probably shouldn't have explained to Hinata just how strange this was. Luckily they had just come upon Hinata's room which would provide a little distraction for her friend. She opened the door and allowed her guest to enter first.

As Hinata looked around, she found herself immensely impressed. This was bigger than her room at the Hyuga compound and she was the daughter of the Clan Head! When she first walked in there was a small seating area with a couch as well as a table big enough for her and one other person. There was a small kitchenette with a small refrigerator and stove. A partition divided this area from the rest of the room which included a bed, desk, and dresser. The divider provided privacy, but could be adjusted to open up the room. Two doors across from the bed led to a closet and the bathroom.

Temari smirked at Hinata's wide-eyed expression. "I know," she said. "The first time Shikamaru saw this room he practically drooled over how little he would actually be required to leave. Of course, I dragged his ass out anyway, but we like to make sure our guests have everything they need."

The bluenette turned to her friend with eyes still wide and said, "This is too much! I don't want you to feel like you have to do all this. I would be just fine in something smaller. What if you need this for an important guest?"

"Nonsense," was the blonde's response. "You are an important guest. Obviously I would do this anyway, but you should remember your mission. You are very important politically and should not settle for anything less than this in the other villages, either."

Temari could sense Hinata's hesitancy, though her lack of protest meant she understood what she had said. "Look, I know Kankuro and Gaara would be pretty appreciative of a good home cooked meal every now and then and I know how you love cooking. Feel free to make something enough for all of us occasionally if it'll make you feel better. But don't let Kankuro treat you like his personal chef. He gets a little excited when it comes to food."

Hinata smiled, appreciating Temari's effort to make her feel more comfortable. The older girl was right, however. Hinata needed to get used to the idea that she was an important political guest before she reached the next nation where she didn't have anyone who knew her. This was one of the problems her clan always had with her becoming the next heiress and it was time she got over it.

With that to think on, Hinata bid Temari goodnight after thanking her once more. Temari promised to stop by later in the morning to show her around Suna and headed to her room. Too tired to fully unpack, the Hyuga got out only what she needed for her nighttime routine and sunk into bed.

* * *

The next morning began with a tearful goodbye for Team Kurenai. Kiba had no trouble showing his emotions and allowed a few tears to fall as he told Hinata to be careful and not to hesitate to call upon him if anyone tried to hurt or take advantage of her in any way. Shino's usual attire obscured his features, but Hinata heard his normally even voice shake as he told her how much he believed in her and how Konoha would not be the same in her absence.

Hinata hugged her teammates, two young men who had stood by her through everything since becoming a team. Though they now considered her strong, they had always been protective of her and she knew she would have to grow stronger than ever before without them there to have her back.

Once they left, the Konoha kunoichi went back to her room and proceeded to unpack until Temari stopped by to show her around. First the blonde took her around the Kazekage residence, pointing out places like the library, kitchen, living area, and her own room. When Temari felt Hinata had seen everything relevant in the home, she decided to show her around Suna.

Temari first showed Hinata the indoor market where she could pick up food and various necessities. Next, the blonde took her to an area of shops with a weapons store that came highly recommended and stores with various items like books and clothing. The young women then stopped by the hospital and the head doctor was introduced to Hinata and informed that she would be working with them occasionally for the next half a year.

From the hospital, they walked to the training grounds and Hinata was really starting to notice how different the weather was in Suna from Konoha. Konoha could get hot in the summer, but this was a dry heat and felt more draining than what she was used to. Her usual lavender jacket suddenly seemed absurdly stuffy and she briefly entertained the idea of getting different training clothes for her stay before dismissing it in favor of some semblance of normalcy in this adventure.

Before she knew it, the time Hinata had been dreading arrived and she was walking with Temari dressed in a deep green yukata that reminded her of the forests surrounding her home. When they approached restaurant, Temari walked her friend up to the hostess to make sure the employees knew what was going on as everyone knew how important it was not to disturb their Kazekage during this weekly meal. It was the one time a week that he asked to be left alone. He wouldn't even complain if anyone woke him up, not that he slept often.

A nervous Hinata followed an equally nervous employee to a booth at the far back of the restaurant. The hostess scurried away as soon as she bowed and didn't look back. Hinata's 'thank you' died on her lips as she realized her escort had disappeared. She quickly turned to face the young man who had invited her to join him and blushed under his intense gaze. He had stood up at her arrival, as was proper, and offered to help her into her seat. True to her training in etiquette, the heiress thanked him and allowed him to help her, though there wasn't much he could to besides hold her hand as she slid in.

Soon, both were seated with a glass of water in front of them.

"I was going to have some tea served, but I was not sure what kind you would prefer."

"Whichever is your favorite is fine, thank you."

"Are you sure?"

"Oh yes. I enjoy trying new teas and I do not want to disrupt this meal for you more than I already am."

"What do you mean?"

"Um, well, Temari told me that this is kind of your weekly tradition and that you always dine alone. She said no one including her and Kankuro-san are allowed to disturb you."

"But I invited you."

"Well, yes, that's exactly it. I feel bad that you have interrupted your weekly alone time to discuss my mission."

"That's not why I invited you here. We could talk about your mission anytime."

"Oh."

At this Hinata's cheeks heated up. She was already nervous about this situation, but Gaara was making it sound more like a date. Instead of explaining why he had invited her, since she now knew it was not mission related, he just sat and stared at her with that look that had made her nervous the evening before in his office.

Hinata was thankful that the sleeves on her yukata were somewhat long and that they hid the fact that she was nervously fiddling with her hands. After a couple of minutes of awkward silence, she was acutely aware of the whispers in the restaurant regarding herself and her dinner companion. She realized that Gaara was not going to elaborate without some sort of prodding on her part and so she obliged.

"If you didn't want to discuss my mission, then what did you want to talk about?"

Gaara was quiet for a minute before leaning forward slightly and giving her a look. "Hyuga-san, I know."

Not sure what he meant by that, Hinata responded, "What?"

"I _know_," he simply repeated himself, placing some emphasis with his deep voice on the 'know'.

More confused than before, Hinata said as gently as possible, "I'm sorry, but I don't understand."

"I know. About Naruto."

Gaara's face remained expressionless after his statement, but Hinata's eyes widened and she used every ounce of Hyuga training she had ever received to suppress her blush to a faint dusting across her cheeks. Hoping that he was not implying what she thought, Hinata asked for further clarification.

"I'm sorry," she said in a voice that sounded much calmer than she was, "but I'm not sure to what you are referring."

"I heard what happened. I know why you left Konoha so quickly."

At this point her Hyuga training was entirely forgotten and her face turned almost as red as the Kazekage's hair. She felt like her head was going to explode from all the blood rushing to it and she actually found herself hoping that would happen so she'd be saved from the most embarrassing situation she'd ever been in. Mortified did not even begin to cover it.

"H-how do you know?" She managed to squeak out, too flustered to ask the question more on her mind.

"Temari. Apparently your friend, Nara's teammate, sent her a letter telling her what happened. She wanted my sister to 'take good care of you' or something. And Temari likes to rant over breakfast."

Feeling a little more composed, though no less mortified, Hinata was able to ask the big question, "Why does this matter to you? Why did you invite me here?"

"I would like us to be friends."

His blunt statement caught her off guard, which honestly wasn't too difficult at the moment, and left her with more questions than it really answered. Why did he ask her to join him for this weekly dinner when he hasn't even allowed his siblings to join him before? And why bring up Naruto? A personal and painful subject like that wasn't something you bring up to someone you are getting to know. Even Temari hadn't brought it up yet and they were actually rather close.

"Um, Kazekage-sama, if you want to be friends I would like that. But, why bring up Naruto?"

"I have been told that when befriending someone, it helps to have something in common."

Hinata furrowed her brows a bit. "Well, yes, but I'm still a little confused."

"We both care for Naruto. That is something we have in common so now we can be friends."

At this, Hinata's eyebrows shot up her forehead. She had heard that the Kazekage considered Naruto a good friend, but had no idea his feelings ran _that_ deep. She was, however, aware that Naruto was certainly not gay and as such she felt sorry for the man sitting before her as his feelings would not be returned.

As a show of friendship, Hinata placed her pale hand over his and said, "I'm sorry."

Gaara was confused. This kunoichi sure apologized a lot. "Why are you sorry?" He asked.

"It's just that I know it's difficult."

Gaara looked back at her, brows slightly furrowed, and said, "I don't think I understand."

"I just mean that I can relate to how you feel. I know how hard it is to love someone and not have that same affection returned."

At this, the redhead tensed and Hinata was unsure what to make of the expression on his face.

"... I think you misunderstood."

Hinata merely tilted her head in confusion so he continued to explain.

"I'm not gay."

"Oh," was the only thing she managed to squeak out. Hinata felt a surge of embarrassment course through her and looked to her side, afraid of catching the eye of her dinner companion. In the one day she had been in Suna she had managed to make the Kazekage think that she considered him a monster and then accused him of having romantic feelings for one of his closest friends. All the tension from the past week seemed to manifest as nervous energy that suddenly bubbled over as she let out a nervous giggle.

Realizing what had just happened, her eyes widened in horror and she clamped a hand over her mouth. Unfortunately her embarrassment just added to the situation and she found herself unable to stifle the laughter that escaped her.

After about a minute, Hinata managed to get her giggles under control. The heiress turned her gaze to the redhead across from her, completely unsure of what his reaction would be to her hysterical outburst as well as what led to it. She promised herself that when this dinner was over, she would become the perfect Hyuga diplomat and never again have a disaster of this magnitude. To her relief, Gaara looked more amused than anything else.

"I find you... interesting," he said, still looking at her curiously.

"I'm so sorry. I don't have any excuse for how I've acted and I can understand if you want to send me back to Konoha." Pale eyes looked truly contrite. She was sure that her giggle fit had probably freaked him out and was also was fully aware of how much she had messed up in her mission thus far. Even if Gaara had said that this was a friendly dinner, she was ready to face any consequences he had for her.

The Kazekage regarded his dark haired companion. He had to admit he had been very surprised by the young woman. She did not act like any Hyuga he had come into contact with before and although she seemed nice enough, he had initially doubted her ability to carry out the diplomatic mission. Her meekness would be a serious hindrance, though he had to admit he understood why everyone found her so endearing.

"I have no intention of sending you away. I do not believe our misunderstandings would be likely to repeat themselves and so I am confident in Lady Tsunade's choice for this mission. She was rather adamant about assigning you specifically and I have not found her favor to be easily given."

Hinata bowed her head in relief and gratitude at these words. "Thank you, Kazekage-sama," she said, "I will not disappoint you."

"However," he continued, "I have some concerns regarding your mission I would like to discuss with you, as a friend and not as your superior."

Hinata nodded, indicating that this was acceptable.

"Your meekness is detrimental to your objective."

The bluenette lowered her head, knowing what Gaara said was true. She quickly lifted it agian, however, realizing that this was exactly what he was talking about.

"Sorry," she began, "I know it's an issue. It's a part of my personality I've tried for a long time to change. I'm not nearly as bad as I used to be, but it's still a problem. That is one of the reasons I agreed to take this mission. I want to grow into the person I know I can be."

The Kazekage nodded, accepting this response. He could help her much more easily if she was already aware of the problem.

"As you are currently, politics will eat you alive. I could easily have taken advantage of your slipups and asked your village for reparations. Or I could have sent you back, as you yourself offered, and embarrassed you, your clan, and Konoha."

Hinata cringed, hyperaware of how lucky she was that the Kazekage wanted to help her.

"I know. I am much better within Konoha, but I think it's partially because I have known them for years. I tend to be worse in front of new people."

Gaara seemed to mull this over before coming to a decision. "I am going to help you. The desert is a harsh environment and even the civilians grow up with the mindset that only the strong survive.

"You will have a week to familiarize yourself with the important figureheads in this city. You will accompany me to my meetings and observe everyone as closely as possible. After this I will have you as my spokesperson. I will tell you my opinions and decisions on the various things we meet about and it will be up to you to convince the others."

Hinata panicked upon hearing this. "But, you're the Kazekage! Won't they disregard what I'm saying, or accuse me of lying about your actual opinion?"

"I'll be attending with you so they won't be able to doubt that you are speaking what I agree to. They know I hate unnecessary talking anyway so they'll probably just write it off as my way of getting out of that."

"If I mess up..."

"You are not the only person whose reputation is on the line. This was true before, but I think this is the best way for you to grasp that. Failure is not an option."

Hinata took a deep breath in and tried to release some of the stress she was feeling with her exhale. This was definitely sink or swim, ironic to her since she was in the middle of the desert, but she had to admit that Gaara's method would yield results.

She had grown since her genin days, but somewhere inside her was a little girl used to messing up. The heiress had earned the respect of her clan and peers, but she did not have the luxury of years of familiarity with the people she would be working with on this mission. However, Hinata was much more capable of rising to a challenge when she was fighting for someone else.

"I thank you for the opportunity, Kazekage-sama. You and Tsunade-sama honor me with your faith. I assure you that I will not disappoint either of you."

The redhead allowed a small smile at the young woman in front of him. He was positive that she would be perfectly fine.

"Good. Now, let us order and continue with our friendly dinner. Is there anything else you want to clear up?"

Hinata almost decided against asking, but her curiosity got the better of her. "Well, I was wondering why you invited me to dinner."

Gaara furrowed his brows. "I thought I was clear when I said I wanted us to become friends."

"Oh! You were. It's just that Temari made a big deal about you never letting anyone bother you this particular time each week and I'm pretty sure the hostess wouldn't have even let me near you if she hadn't been with me so I was just wondering why you made an exception for me."

"I thought it would be a good opportunity for us to get to know each other outside of official business."

"But you never invited anyone else to join you?"

"I don't have any other friends."

Hinata was startled by this. She was painfully shy growing up, and she still had a fairly large group of friends. "Really?"

"Yes. When I was a child my father made sure that I was isolated. He ordered constant assassination attempts and other children were terrified of me. After I decided to change, there was one girl who wasn't afraid of me and chose me to be her teacher. Once I became Kazekage, however, she and her friend became fangirls and thus I am not comfortable around her."

"I'm so sorry. Though from what Temari has told me, you and your siblings seem to have a good relationship now. You haven't wanted them to join you?"

Gaara studied her for a moment, as if weighing what he was about to say in his mind.

"Hyuga-san, I started these dinners to get away from them."

"What? But why would you do that?"

"You've met them. They are the shinobi I work closest with and I live with them so I am never away from them. This was the only way."

Hinata's eyes widened. "You... you mean you set up this weekly dinner and made everyone terrified to even talk to you during them because you needed some time away from your siblings?"

The Kazekage just shrugged and Hinata couldn't help the soft laughter that poured out of her. She had been so freaked out by the dinner, Temari had been so freaked out by this dinner, and really it was just Gaara's way of spending some time away from his family. Having grown up in a household full of people who could literally see through walls, she understood the need to get away. She was lucky enough to be on a team without any other Hyugas and so most of her missions were time away from family.

Gaara, on the other hand, was Kazekage and was almost always in the village. Not only that, but his initial team was made up of his siblings because their father made it that way. He was almost never free of them and although it was obvious that he cared for them, their personalities were quite different from his and she could see why he needed a break every now and then. This made her relax more as she realized that the Kazekage was indeed just another young man, though a very important one, who wanted some company.

"Kazekage-sama," Hinata said as she smiled and reached her hand across the table, "I very much look forward to getting to know you."

* * *

Back in her room that evening, Hinata sighed as she settled into her plush bed. She had heard the whispers surrounding them as Gaara walked with her back to the Kazekage home and knew that there would be some rumors regarding their relationship. That was not exactly something she wanted to deal with so early on in this huge undertaking of a mission, but she was happy to gain a friend.

They had spent the rest of their dinner simply getting to know one another. The redhead was not very loquacious, but she was able to keep him participating by asking questions based on various tidbits she had heard in the past from Temari. He seemed to get more comfortable with her throughout the meal and she felt the same, but now that she was alone in her room her mind quickly occupied itself with more anxiety inducing topics.

Hinata was shy, she had always been shy, even with her closest family and friends. For the longest time, her father thought her incapable of leading the clan because she could hardly bring herself to speak in front of others, let alone command any respect. Over the years, she had proved to both her family and her village that she was a capable young woman, but she did not have years to prove herself to everyone on this mission. From this point on she would have one chance to make the impression she needed to make and she couldn't help but be a little overwhelmed by that idea.

The dark haired girl had worked hard in the past, inspired by Naruto's endurance in the face of opposition, his resolve to never give up or give in to an opponent. Hinata had seen him smile in the face of adversity and yearned to be like that. She quickly adopted his nindo, but now it was no longer just _his_ \- it was _hers_, too, she had made it her own.

Never giving up, never going back on her word was now just as much a part of her as breathing and although she struggled, she would always keep going, keep improving until she was proud of what she had accomplished. If she was being honest, her main motivation in the past had been to get stronger, to stand by Naruto's side and be worthy of that place. She wanted him to notice her, to acknowledge her and be able to rely on her. Hinata remembered how it had felt to stand next to him on the battlefield, hand in his, coated in Kyubi's chakra, ready to take on the enemy. She wanted that to be her life, her everything, and used that as motivation to improve. That, however, was no longer going to be the case.

As Hinata reflected on her first day and a half in Suna, she was severely disappointed in herself. It's true that she tended to be her own harshest critic, but the beginning of her diplomatic mission had been an absolute disaster. Is this what she turned into when she no longer had Naruto's acknowledgement as a goal? She refused to let that be the case.

This was no longer about being worthy of standing next to him, but for the sake of standing on her own. She would grow, she would train both physically and mentally until she was someone that _she_ could be proud of - not her family, not Naruto, but herself.

With newly hardened resolve, Hinata allowed herself to sink into her pillows, willing herself to sleep so that she could wake up and begin this new chapter of her life.

* * *

Dark hair whipped around her face, and Hinata focused chakra to her feet so as not to be toppled by the fierce wind conjured by her sparring partner's fan. She turned to the side in order to lessen the surface area being attacked by the wind, thankful for her Byakugan that allowed her to do such a thing without hindering the view of her opponent. This was not a luxury everyone could afford.

Her doujutsu showed the increasing danger she was in as the wind took on a slicing quality, thanks to some chakra manipulation from Temari. She could tell that her friend was nervous about using one of her deadliest attacks, but Hinata had insisted that she needed this to test the true strength of the defense she had been working on.

It had taken months of chakra control exercises and intense study of the inner workings of the Kaiten which she had previously mastered based more on theory and practice rather than full understanding of the technique. Training with Temari had proved to be very beneficial because they were exactly the other's weakness. Their spars had forced the Sand kunoichi to better develop her taijutsu and strength and had forced Hinata to come up with better defense for long range attacks as well as develop more innovative ways to use her family's Gentle Fist.

After a few weeks of training sessions, the heiress had noticed that the Kaiten was indeed a thorough defense, but it used up a lot of chakra and could be somewhat disorienting if used too long (something no Hyuga would ever admit). At first she just worked to increase her chakra reserves and practiced the spinning, which helped immensely, but soon she decided that wasn't enough. Now, she was testing the fruits of her ingenuity and hard work with her blonde friend and couldn't help but smile at her success.

She was by no means finished perfecting it and soon noticed the wind penetrating her barrier, but a quick signal to Temari put an end to the attack and Hinata found herself beaming with pride at the shocked face of her opponent. Hanabi would be so surprised the next time they sparred.

Two tired and disheveled kunoichi left the practice field, trading both praise and advice based on the intense session they had that morning. This was a pattern they had settled comfortably into soon after Hinata's arrival in Suna. Gaara's schedule for Hinata involved three days of working with him and other important figures on various political matters and three days for training and preparing paperwork or whatever else might be needed for the days she was involved in her diplomacy. He also allowed her one day off a week to do whatever she pleased.

Hinata had requested to spar with Temari one day and it quickly became something regular. She had also sparred with Kankuro and various other shinobi the Subaku family had introduced her to, happy to gain experience fighting the unconventional weapons of Suna like puppetry and cloth.

The heiress cooked for Gaara and his siblings once or twice a week, which served as both something relaxing for her and time to bond. After that initial dinner with the Kazekage, she had become more comfortable around him and she now regularly accompanied him to his weekly dinner. Kankuro had teased them once about forbidden love between an heiress and Kage from different villages, but a sand infused bite of food quickly shut him up.

Hinata was thankful that Kankuro and Temari merely teased to get a reaction out of their generally stoic brother. Unfortunately, the idea that she and the Kage were an item was a fairly common subject of conversation on the streets of Suna. She had explained to Gaara that perhaps she should stop meeting him for dinner as it was giving people the wrong idea and could cause some issues, but he told her that anyone who was actually important politically would know to verify facts before believing in marketplace gossip. Hinata hadn't taken much convincing as she enjoyed their weekly meals as well.

The heiress was very thankful that Suna had been the first stop on her mission. The Kazekage's unexpected desire to help her had been her saving grace after her shaky mission beginning and Temari was both a supportive friend and sparring partner. Her relationship with the Subaku family felt like a perfect transition from home to political mission. Hinata lived with them and shared meals with them like she would her family at home, but she was also aware that they were political figureheads and treated them as such whenever outside the Kazekage mansion. As an important shinobi family, they also allowed her some powerful connections in Suna, for which she was thankful.

* * *

Gaara sat at his desk, reading some recent correspondence from Lady Tsunade. He considered what it had informed him of and quickly began preparing for the situation. He was trying to determine what arrangements he would need to make when he heard a soft knocking on his office door. He knew exactly who that knock belonged to and quickly allowed her to come in.

The Kazekage regarded the Hyuga ambassador as she entered the room, still as quiet as the day she had arrived, but now with a certain poise that didn't so much as hint at the debilitating timidity present at their initial meeting. Four and a half months had shown a major transformation in the young woman and the thought of it brought a small smile to his face.

Hinata bowed and began, "Kazekage-sama, I was looking through a trade register yesterday and came across the name of a merchant clan that I do not believe I am acquainted with. It seems they do a lot of trade in and through Suna, but I could not find a record of them living here."

"Are you referring to the Nakamura clan?"

"Yes. I have become acquainted with the various important political figures here in Suna so I was surprised when I found myself unable to recall meeting anyone named Nakamura. From the trade registers, it seems they do a lot of business here and their glassware is very well-known."

"They are well-known here, but they do not live in the city of Suna. Wind country is mostly desert and so there are not many towns that have been able to withstand the harsh climate. The only other towns are those that exist around various oases.

All but one of the merchant clans live here in Suna, where the biggest opportunity for financial success is, but the Nakamura family lives in one of the oasis towns. Their glass making process is a jealously guarded secret and requires a lot of space."

"I see. So although they live elsewhere, they still trade mostly in and through Suna since that is the best way to profit."

"Exactly."

"I would like to visit them."

Gaara raised a brow. "Are you sure? They do not have any real influence here since they do not live nearby."

"I understand that, but they are still a wealthy clan that has some connection to the Wind daimyo and so I feel it would be beneficial to personally give them regards from both Konoha and the Hyugas."

"I see. When were you wanting to go?"

Hinata looked to the side for a split second before replying, "I was thinking that next week would be a good time."

Gaara caught the movement and he wondered if this sudden request had anything to do with the news he had received from Tsunade. He watched her closely as he asked his next few questions.

"Are you sure? Since you are not accustomed to desert travel, the journey can be anywhere from two to three days either way, depending on the weather. You'll likely be gone an entire week."

A brief expression of surprise and something that looked a little like hope flashed across her face before she schooled it into her usual expression. "A week? Hm, if that is the case then I would definitely prefer to go next week."

"Why is that? You are aware that the Konoha shinobi in charge of helping us with preparations for the Chunin exams will be here next week. Are you not interested in seeing your comrades?"

His eyes did not miss her shifting slightly on her feet.

"While I do miss my friends, it makes sense for me to go sooner rather than later as my time in Suna is drawing to a close. And besides," Hinata now sported a knowing smile, "I'm sure Temari will not need me interrupting her time with Shiikamaru-san."

Her body language gave away her nerves, but she was still making sound arguments. It was true that her time there would be ending soon and the closer it got to her departure date, the more difficult it would be to find time for her to go. He was also aware of his sister's odd relationship with the Nara and knew that they would spend the majority of their time together. Still, he continued his questioning.

"I see. You are aware that Nara-san is not the only Konoha shinobi assigned to help with preparations this exam?"

The Kazekage was proud of the blank look Hinata settled over her features as she realized he had caught on to her.

"I regularly correspond with a few people back home."

A response worthy of a politician. It was ambiguous, but still answered his question sufficiently enough not to be considered rude. She had really come a long way in her time with him.

"You know, Lady Tsunade's letter gave me the impression that Naruto was very eager to help Shikamaru on this particular mission."

Gaara knew that saying his name would get some kind of response out of Hinata, and he was not disappointed. A light blush bloomed across her cheeks.

"I am sure he is very eager to see you, Kazekage-sama. After all, it has been more than a year since the war ended and he values your friendship."

She still needed to work on her physical control, but her verbal responses had been perfect. They could talk more in detail about this on a more personal note when they had their weekly meal. For now, he thought it best to get back to business. This was, after all, his office and they were dealing with official matters.

"Alright then. I am sure that Nara-san and Naruto will be disappointed that they missed you, but you have argued your case well and I agree with you. I will send word ahead to the Nakamura clan and you will have two escorts on your journey to ensure all goes smoothly."

Hinata bowed in gratitude, inwardly rejoicing at having been able to avoid seeing Naruto. She had panicked when she had received Kurenai's latest letter. Apparently Shikamaru stopped by to let her know that he would be unable to visit little Asuma for a week and a half and happened to mention that he would not be traveling to Suna alone. The former sensei had realized that the sudden appearance of the blond Uzumaki in Suna would likely be problematic for Hinata and had warned her student so that she could prepare herself.

The heiress's desire to visit the Nakamuras was genuine, but she could not deny that she had hastened her request due to the news from Kurenai. Originally, Hinata thought that the visit would only allow her to avoid Naruto for a few days, but when Gaara told her how long the journey would actually take she was happy that she would not have to come up with another excuse to avoid him.

They were only going to be in town for a little under a week - much to Temari's chagrin - in order to discuss plans for the upcoming Chunin exam that would be held in Suna. Hinata had been sure that Gaara would see through her timing and so she had come up with reasons that he would be hard pressed to argue against. She thanked the Kazekage, pretending not to notice his expression that promised more questions later, and left to make preparations for her journey.

* * *

When Hinata arrived back in Suna, she was noticeably on edge. According to the original mission, Shikamaru and Naruto should have left for Konoha the day before and she would not have to worry about running into the man she was not ready to face. However, she knew that delays were possible and had spent the entire journey back fretting over whether or not she would have to interact with her not so former crush.

The heiress had to admit that she wasn't nearly as over him as she was hoping to be at this point and his visit to Suna, whether she had been there or not, had kept him at the forefront of her mind. It didn't help that the journey had been long and tedious and that she had too much time to dwell on thoughts of him.

Luckily she was familiar with one of the guards at the entrance and casually inquired as to whether the Konoha shinobi were still in town. As she hoped, the guard assumed she was eager to see some comrades from home and had regretfully informed her that they had left on schedule, the evening previous. Hinata breathed a sigh of relief, but could not help the jolt in her stomach as she spotted blond hair coming towards her.

Even though Temari's hair was more sandy blonde than Naruto's bright golden locks and obviously styled differently, Hinata's travel worn brain couldn't help but panic when her eyes saw a shock of blond in the crowd near her. The heiress quickly recognized her friend and calmed herself, looking forward to teasing the usually tough young woman on her relationship with the Nara genius.

Temari smiled as she made her way toward her blue haired friend. Hinata looked exhausted, as expected from someone who had traveled the desert, and the Sand kunoichi was eager to whisk her away for a warm scented bath and girl talk. She was going to take advantage of having one of her closest girl friends live with her while she had the chance.

As the two kunoichi settled onto the tiled seats in the warm bath, Temari was one to initiate the conversation.

"So, how was the trip?"

Hinata looked at the young woman who had just helped her rid her hair of more sand than she had ever thought possible and couldn't help but smile at her attempt at small talk.

"It was fine. The Nakamuras were lovely hosts and seemed pleased that I had wanted to visit them. Though they are familiar with the Wind daimyo, their lack of involvement in the politics of Suna generally means they are overlooked by foreign diplomats. They were happy to be recognized and I am glad that my visit was a happy occasion for them. You can never have too many allies."

"Hmm, I suppose that is true. I'm glad the trip was beneficial for you."

"Thank you. Now, why don't you tell me about what happened while I was gone. I'm sure you didn't just bring me here to help me get all this sand off and hear about me making nice with some rich people."

The blonde smirked. "I suppose you're right, though you know I do at least care about whether or not you had a decent time."

"Okay, you are a good friend. Now, how was your time with Shikamaru?"

Temari scowled at Hinata's question. She had certainly become a lot more direct in the past few months.

The heiress just giggled at her expression. "You know, your scowl isn't very scary when you're blushing at the same time."

"Shut up. The water is hot."

"Mhmm, you should know better than to think you can fool me. I used to be the blushing queen, remember? Now, spill."

"You sure are eager. Are you sure it's Shikamaru you want to hear about and not a certain blond Hokage hopeful?"

Now it was Hinata's turn to blush.

"I think your actual love life would be more interesting than my nonexistent one."

"Are you sure yours is so nonexistent? Shikamaru wouldn't stop complaining about how determined Naruto was to come on this mission and how troublesome it was that he managed to get his way."

Hinata refused to let this affect her.

"We all know how much Naruto values your brother's friendship. This trip was a good way for him to visit a friend he does not get to see often."

"He was admittedly very excited about visiting Gaara, but he also wouldn't shut up about a certain Hyuga heiress with blue hair. I swear he thought I was hiding you for the first day he was here. He kept sniffing around like an Inuzuka trying to figure out where you might be."

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize he'd actually want to see me that badly. I thought he would get here and see you guys and be satisfied with that."

Temari's face got serious. "Hinata, he's really sorry about what happened and he really wanted to talk to you. You know Naruto and you know he wouldn't just let what you said on that mission go without trying to address it."

"Funny, he's never had trouble forgetting about things I've said before."

The blonde winced. "I know you're upset, but he genuinely wants to talk to you. According to Shikamaru that's all he talked about on the way here."

Hinata sighed. "Sorry if I snapped. I'm just not ready to face him. He's always been a huge part of my life and my motivation and this mission is my opportunity to really figure myself out away from him. I just want to get myself in order before dealing with him if that makes sense."

"That makes perfect sense. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to push. It's just that he's the person who saved my little brother in so many ways and he seemed so distraught when he was here that I wanted to help. But I understand where you're coming from."

"Thank you. Now, you've avoided talking about Shikamaru for too long. I know something interesting had to have happened and I'm sure you'd rather tell me about it than leave me to hear it from Kankuro."

This made both girls laugh. Kankuro had a tendency to make even the most innocent of situations regarding his sister and the Nara into something remarkably indecent. Temari began to recount all that had happened with her almost but not quite boyfriend while Hinata prodded and teased and let herself relax once more with her friend.

* * *

Hinata stepped into her room feeling genuinely clean and relaxed for the first time in a while. As she glanced around the room that had become her temporary home away from home she noticed something sitting on the comforter of her bed. Her ninja instincts kicked in and she immediately activated her Byakugan to make sure it wasn't something dangerous.

She just as quickly deactivated it after confirming that the package wasn't a threat, but wasn't sure what to make of what she had seen. She made her way over to her bed and saw a folded piece of paper laying on top of a narrow white box. Her breathe caught in her throat at the sight of the rough, but familiar hand-writing.

_Hinata,_

_I was really sad to find that you weren't here when I arrived in Suna. I kind of didn't believe them at first so sorry if they complain about me giving them a hard time._

_When your teammates told me that you would be gone on your mission for two years I was really upset. I've thought a lot about what you said, not just on our mission to get Sasuke, but really everything you've said to me over the years. I'm kind of working through some things, and I might not have everything that I want to say perfected, but you were always good at really understanding me so I thought it might be okay._

_Anyway, they told me that you were on a diplomatic visit, but I can't shake the feeling that you were trying to avoid me, visit or not. I know you probably don't want to see me right now and I don't blame you, but I hope that you'll give me a chance to talk to you someday._

_Ino told me that presents were a good way to get a girl to give you a chance so I convinced Temari to take me to a couple of shops you liked so I could find you something. You never really seemed like that kind of girl to me, but I'll try anything. Besides, when I found these I thought they were made for you. I hope you like them._

_Sincerely,_

_Uzumaki Naruto_

Hinata shakily picked up the box and opened it, a myriad of emotions flowing through her because of the letter. She found her breath catching again at the beautiful pair of ivory hair combs looking back at her. There was an intricate floral pattern carved in them with pearls of various sizes inlaid in the middle of each flower.

She put her head in her hands and couldn't help but think, 'Naruto, why do you have to make this so hard.'

* * *

**Okay, so that ended on a bit of an emotional note, but I had to add a little NaruHina in there.**

**Next chapter you'll find Naruto's reaction to Hinata's mission as well as some of his interactions with the Rookie 9. After that I'll be combining Iwa and Kiri into one chapter because I want to get her back to Konoha as quickly as possible and I'm sure you do, too.**

**We're in the middle of moving, but other than that things are starting to settle so the next chapter shouldn't take nearly so long as this. **

**Thank you again for reading and let me know what you think!**


	4. Konoha - The First Six Months

**Author's note: Hello again! I've finished the fourth chapter and it's the longest one yet! Some of the scenes took on a life of their own and I just went with it so I hope you enjoy what you find.**

**All of this takes place at the same time as the last chapter, just in Konoha instead of Suna. This chapter is a lot of Naruto working through and coming to terms his feelings thus far so it can be a little confusing at times because he is rather confused about it as well. I think at the end of it all he ends up right where he needs to be to have written the letter at the end of the last chapter.**

**As always, your reviews and messages have meant the world to me and keep me writing whenever I'm feeling stuck. I love your feedback and take it into consideration as I continue to write.**

**This chapter does have a couple of people give Naruto a hard time, but I promise I didn't let them be very mean. I know a lot of you expressed concern over that. Girls (and Kiba, because I get that big brother vibe from him) are very protective of their friends so I felt like what happens makes sense, and it all gets righted so that by the end of the chapter pretty much everyone is team NaruHina.**

**I also just wanted to say that I am up to date with the manga, but I planned the story and started writing it when the manga was at a certain point so I am not going to incorporate everything that has happened since. I will adjust what I can, but don't plan on worrying about it much. Just wanted to give you a heads up.**

**Enough of me trying to explain a chapter you haven't read yet. Hope you like it!**

Hinata: Sweetheart of the Allied Nations

Chapter Four: Konoha - The First Six Months

Naruto woke up the next day, squinting his eyes against the brightness pouring into his apartment from the windows. His mind, still groggy from slumber, took a minute to process the fact that the sun was much brighter than it should have been if he had indeed woken when he had planned to. A glance at the clock quickly snapped Naruto out of his sleepy state and he cursed as he tumbled out of bed, frustrated that he was already behind on the limited plan he had been able to come up with the night before.

It turns out, saying that you are going to make a plan and actually making a plan are two very different things. And apparently executing a plan was yet another challenge in the already complicated process, especially since Naruto was never really one for planning in the first place. Kakashi didn't call him unpredictable for no reason and Naruto had embraced his instinct and improvisation to create a truly unique and impressive fighting style.

That's not to say the blond ninja was incapable of planning. As Naruto matured through the years he recognized the importance of being able to strategize in situations that were too dangerous to jump straight into. However, his training in battle strategy did not seem to help him in the girl department. He had no idea where to start when it came to the fairer sex. For almost a decade he had made advances on his pink-haired teammate and that never went well. He realized that Hinata was very different from Sakura and would probably not react so violently, but he still felt he should modify his usual approach to accommodate their history. Unfortunately, this was the point where he hit a wall.

As Naruto had walked from the memorial through the town, he thought about asking someone for advice, but quickly realized he didn't know who to talk to about this. He grew up with two perverted senseis, only one of whom was still alive, and shuddered at the idea of anything Kakashi might suggest. Iruka had never been in a serious relationship that he was aware of and Shikamaru was the only guy in his age group who was currently in some kind of relationship, but he was still in denial about it.

Needing the comfort of familiarity and food, Naruto headed to Ichiraku. As he ducked into the stand and seated himself at the counter he was greeted by a smiling Ayame.

"Hello, Naruto! Would you like the usual?"

Her only response was a nod, which caused her to furrow her brow. As her father walked out from the back, he too noticed his favorite customer and greeted him warmly.

"Naruto, my boy! It's been a while! Were you on a mission?"

"Yeah. We had to go get Sasuke."

Teuchi shared a worried look with his daughter as she continued to cook Naruto's order. They had never heard the blond mention his best friend and rival with such lackluster. He wondered if something had gone wrong.

"Is everything okay? If anyone is giving him a hard time, you know any friend of yours will always be welcome here. We'll do what we can."

The genuine concern in Teuchi's voice made Naruto crack a small smile. He shook his head, letting the ramen chef know that that wasn't the issue.

"Actually, I'm having a different kind of problem. I, uh, well I'm not really sure how to start."

Ayame gave him a sisterly smile as she handed him his first bowl of ramen.

"Well, why don't you just start from the beginning?" she suggested.

"I dunno, it's a really long story."

"We have time. After all, that's only your first bowl and it's been a slow night."

"Well, there's kind of this girl..." Naruto began, still not sure how to tell them all that had happened. The more he thought about it, the more he realized this whole thing actually started back when they were genin. He started to get depressed again when he realized just how long Hinata had had feelings for him.

"Is it Sakura-san?" Ayame asked a bit reluctantly. She knew Naruto had had a crush on his teammate for a long time, but she had a feeling that Sasuke's return had probably ruined any chance of the pink haired girl ever having romantic feelings for the blond sitting in front of her. The girl had always seemed to treat him more like a brother, anyway. The brunette breathed a sigh of relief when Naruto shook his head.

"No, it's someone else. She's actually had feelings for me for a long time."

"Ah, is it Hinata-san? Such a sweet girl." Teuchi said.

"What?! How did you know?" Naruto asked, bewildered.

"Oh, she and her teammates come in here all the time. Those boys love to tease her about you and you know we can't help but listen when conversation involves our best customer," he responded with a smile.

Unfortunately, this just caused Naruto to groan. "Oh my god, even you guys knew how she felt about me?"

This time Ayame was the one to respond, "Well, like dad says, we can't really help but hear. But, I thought you knew? There was a lot of gossip a while back saying that she had confessed. It was a lot stronger than the usual rumors so we were pretty sure it was true. We kind of assumed you had already dealt with that and were looking for someone else."

At this point Naruto had to stop himself from hitting his head repeatedly on the counter.

Ayame saw his expression and started to apologize, "I'm sorry, Naruto. We would have said something if we knew it was so important to you. We honestly thought you knew."

Seeing that this was quickly going downhill, Teuchi decided to step in. "Naruto, why don't you tell us what is wrong and we'll see if we can help."

Naruto let out a long sigh and said, "What do you do when you've really messed up with a girl?"

Sensing that he didn't want to get more in-depth than that at the moment, Teuchi decided to give him the standard. "Flowers. Give her flowers."

Naruto looked at him, confused. Here he had been racking his brain trying to come up with a way to make things up to Hinata and apparently all he needed was flowers. It seemed too good to be true. "Flowers? Is that all?"

"No, Naruto," Ayame looked at her father slightly annoyed, "that is not all. And you don't actually have to give her flowers. Really, a heartfelt apology is all it takes."

"Yes, but flowers certainly don't hurt. In fact, sometimes a bouquet of flowers is what convinces her to listen to the apology," the ramen chef said, as he nodded sagely.

"I don't get it. Why are flowers such a big deal?"

"They are pretty and they smell nice. Girls like that," Teuchi responded.

Ayame sighed, a little sad that no one had really taken the time to teach Naruto about these things. "It's not so much the flowers specifically, but the gesture. If you present a girl with flowers when you want to apologize it's similar to raising a white flag in battle. But don't you dare go on thinking that all you have to do when you mess up is get a girl some flowers. As I said before, the flowers are a gesture, but the apology is most important."

Naruto mulled this over. It was certainly the best shot he had currently. He wanted Hinata to listen to him and if flowers would do the trick then flowers he would get. After finishing his ramen, Naruto walked home and debated when exactly he should give her flowers. He figured morning would be ideal since he could find her at her house instead of having to search the village or ask around. He actually wanted to do this as quietly as possible, unsure of what his "groupies" -as Sakura referred to them- would do if they heard about it. He knew that if he was heard asking around for the Hyuga heiress's whereabouts while carrying flowers there would be lots of talk.

With that part of the plan set in stone Naruto had attempted to sleep, but couldn't seem to stop his mind from running through what he might say to Hinata. He was on edge and his brain was on overdrive, which lead to a rather unsuccessful night of sleep. That, in turn, lead to his current predicament of waking up late for a rushed shower and sprint to Ino's flower shop. If he could convince her to keep her mouth shut, he knew she would be most helpful in picking out flowers for her friend. Little did he know, his delay had allowed a certain little sister to make her way to the Yamanaka shop first.

* * *

It was often remarked in the Hyuga household that Hinata was the spitting image of her mother whereas Hanabi was the spitting image of her father. Most never looked past their outward appearances before confirming this fact, but the similarities were also apparent in their personalities.

Hinata was a sweet girl, caring and she forgave easily. She would go out of her way to make sure she didn't offend or upset anyone, including those that didn't even know her. Hanabi, on the other hand, only cared for the opinions of those she held dear. She could be cutthroat, but those that knew her well knew that she would do anything for the people she loved, and this included her sister. Although she was only thirteen, it was well known that you did not want her scheming to be directed at you. Unfortunately for one blond Uzumaki, she was rather frustrated with what she considered a slight against her awesome older sister. Thus, after she saw her sister off that morning, she quickly headed to the Yamanaka flower shop, knowing that Ino would be working.

The young Hyuga was not disappointed when she walked into the flower shop and found Ino standing behind the counter, head resting on her hand, waiting for customers. The shop had just been opened so everything was already cleaned and organized and the blonde was eagerly awaiting a customer to come entertain her. She smiled brightly at her friend's little sister, though she was a little confused to see her in the store as she had only ever visited once before with Hinata.

"Hey there, Hanabi," she greeted, "Did Hinata get off well this morning?"

"She did. There was way too much hugging, but she had that determined look on her face when she left so I'm sure my sister will be just fine."

Ino smiled. She always wondered how Hinata had survived in a family whose main method of physical contact was sparring.

"Yeah, Hinata was made for this kind of mission. I know everyone is going to love her just as much as we do. Now, what can I help you with today?"

Hanabi smirked before saying, "What if I told you I had a way to get back at Uzumaki for ignoring my big sister?"

Ino was intrigued, but hesitant. "I don't know, Hanabi. Hinata was pretty clear about not wanting us to do anything to Naruto. TenTen was practically ready to use him as moving target practice, but your sister quickly shut it down."

"Tch. Hinata's too soft-hearted for her own good. Besides, it's not so much us doing something to him as us _not_ doing something specific."

The young Hyuga smirked as she saw the blonde's face go from unsure to curious. She knew that once Ino was interested in something, she would not rest until satisfied.

"I'm listening."

"Well, I'm merely suggesting we neglect to tell Uzumaki Naruto that Hinata has left on a two year mission."

"I don't understand. What is that supposed to do? And how are we supposed to keep him from finding out?"

"You'd be surprised at how few people know about the mission. Hinata left so quickly that she didn't really have time to tell a lot of people. Kurenai's too busy with her son to gossip and we all know Uchiha hardly says a word about anything ever. Also, TenTen and Sakura both left on that emergency mission this morning with Lee and Gai and Hinata's team has a piggyback mission to complete after escorting her to Suna so they won't be back for a while."

Ino was impressed. Hanabi had certainly covered her bases.

"What about your clan? Don't they all know where their heiress is going?"

"Oh, they won't be a problem. I have my ways of ensuring they don't mess this up."

The blonde's eyes widened at how sinister that sounded. "You don't mean the curse seal?" she asked indignantly. Hinata would have a fit if she knew her sister had threatened anyone with that barbaric status symbol.

Hanabi merely rolled her eyes. "Please, do you really think I would need to resort to something like that? Honestly, I have blackmail on pretty much everyone in the clan. Not that I need to use it. They all love Hinata. I just have to tell them to keep their mouths shut for a short while in order to get back at someone who messed with their princess and they will do just that."

Ino was now both impressed and a little terrified of the little girl in front of her. She had definitely not been this devious at that age. Hinata had mentioned something about it to the girls before, but none of them had really believed her. She knew that Sakura had left this morning to treat someone in the Daimyo's immediate family who had apparently been poisoned in an assassination attempt. Team Gai left with them to ensure no further attempts were made on either the Daimyo's family or the medic and they would be gone until that was resolved.

"Supposing I agree to this, do you really think this is okay? Hinata was pretty clear…"

"Come on, if my sister can't depend on her friends to get back at him for her then who can she depend on? I know you have seen what him ignoring her confession has done to her all this time. And besides, it's not like we're really doing all that much. He'll obviously find out at some point that she's gone. We are merely postponing it so that it's more shocking and has a bigger effect. I don't see how Hinata could really complain about that.

"So what do you say, do we have a deal?"

The blonde had to admit that Hanabi had a way of putting things that made them not seem so bad. She and the other girls had seen Hinata's face when Naruto would ask Sakura out in front of her. Sasuke had always been brutal when rebuffing a girl's advances, but at least he was upfront and he told them how he felt. Hinata on the other hand was smart enough to infer from Naruto's inaction what his answer was, but without that definitive response she couldn't help but hold onto a little hope. Ino supposed that her blue haired friend couldn't be that upset even if she managed to hear what her little sister planned.

"I'm in."

* * *

As Naruto entered the Yamanaka flower shop, he was relieved when he saw that Ino was the one currently tending the counter. He had come here specifically hoping that she would be there since he figured she would know what kind of flowers Hinata might like.

"Hey, Ino!" he greeted happily.

Ino was surprised to see the person she had talked with Hanabi about so soon. She often saw the other members of the Konoha 12 around the village, but only Shikamaru and Choji made regular appearances at her shop because of their closeness.

"Hey, Naruto, is there something I can help you with?" she asked, curiosity and nervousness raging within her.

"Uh, yeah, actually," Naruto responded, while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "I was looking to buy some flowers."

Now Ino was really curious. She was about to ask who they were for, but realized there was a good chance he wanted some for Hinata and she did not want to bring her up if she could help it. The blonde bit her tongue instead and nodded.

"I can definitely help with that. Is there anything in particular you are looking for? A particular color, or is there something you are trying to say with them?"

"Trying to say?"

"Yes, different flowers have different meanings. If you are unsure what kind or color someone might prefer then I usually suggest getting a flower that has the meaning you are trying to convey. That way you can't go wrong."

This was too good to be true for Naruto. Instead of asking his fellow blonde what Hinata's favorite flowers were, he could just tell her what he was trying to say with them and she didn't even have to know who they were for. Ino was a notorious gossip so he had been worried about making sure she didn't tell anyone what he was doing. Now, he no longer had to fret.

"Ah, well I was told that I should get a girl flowers if I messed up. So, I guess what I'm trying to say with them is that I'm sorry."

Based on the story she had heard yesterday, Ino was positive he was talking about Hinata. Luckily for her, he seemed hesitant to actually bring her up so she didn't even have to worry about hiding the fact she was gone.

"I have the perfect flower for that," she said as she pulled some purple hyacinths and began to wrap them. She finished the bouquet with a ribbon and handed it to Naruto. "There you go!"

"Thanks, Ino! This looks great!" he exclaimed as he placed some money on the counter and ran out of the shop, eager to get to the Hyuga compound as quickly as possible.

"See you later!" he yelled over his shoulder.

* * *

Naruto quickly found himself standing at the gates of the Hyuga compound, pleased that buying flowers had taken less time than he had originally thought so he could get on with the rest of his plan. Bouquet in hand, he approached the guards in order to request entrance.

The guards inspected the young man in front of them and the flowers he held. With a conspiratorial glance at one another they acknowledged both their awareness and compliance with the orders previously given to them by Hanabi.

"What is your business here?" the one on the left demanded, before Naruto had a chance to ask to be let in.

The blond ninja was involuntarily a little intimidated by the tone and gazes of the two men. They weren't openly hostile, but they certainly weren't friendly and suddenly he felt foolish for assuming he would just be able to march right into the compound to find their heiress and talk to her.

"I'm here to talk to Hinata."

"We're afraid she is currently unavailable. If you would like we can get a message to her."

Although their words made it sound as though they wanted to help, their cool tone was starting to rub him the wrong way. However, Naruto figured he needed to remain friendly if he wanted them to let him in.

"Um, it's actually pretty important that I say this face to face. Is there somewhere I can wait until she's available?"

"You are welcome to remain here, but we are under orders not to let you inside the compound."

"What? Who gave you those orders? Was it Hinata?"

"You have no authority to ask us that."

"Please, just tell me if it was Hinata. I need to talk to her."

"Our orders were from Hiashi-sama's daughter," the guard on the right responded, hoping Hanabi-sama would be pleased with his misdirection. Unfortunately, Naruto proved to be very persistent.

"It's fine. I don't need to go in there. Just send someone to let her know I want to talk to her and I'll stay out here the whole time."

Now the guards were starting to sweat a bit. Luckily, Hanabi had heard of a commotion at the front gate and came to their rescue.

She pushed open the door and walked outside. With her arms crossed she glared at Naruto and said, "My sister does not want to see you."

The blond Uzumaki took in the young girl in front of him. He noted her resemblance to Neji and her unmarked forehead and concluded that she was indeed Hinata's younger sibling. It seemed to him that she was around Konohamaru's age and he grinned. He had experience with kids her age so he would definitely be able to convince her to let him see her sister.

"Hey there!" he said, giving her his friendliest smile. "My name's Naruto. Do you think you could get Hinata for me?"

"No."

Undeterred by the tone it seemed every Hyuga but Hinata was adept in using, Naruto tried again.

"Please? There's something important I need to talk with her about."

"Oh?" Hanabi asked, while lifting a brow. "And what would that be?"

Naruto was beginning to get a little agitated. What was with these people? He knew talking to Hinata was going to be difficult, but he hadn't thought the process itself of getting to talk to her was going to be this bad.

"Look, it's kind of personal. Tell you what, if you go get her then I will see about teaching you an awesome justu," he said, while extending his hand out to ruffle her hair. The promise of a jutsu always worked on Konohamaru.

The blond ninja immediately noticed her glare go from cool to positively glacier and he snapped his arm back just before it made contact with the top of her head. This girl was nothing like the Konohamaru corps. In his flustered state, he didn't notice Hanabi's smirk as she saw the purple flowers in his hand.

"Are those for Nee-chan?" she asked, pointing to the bouquet.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, these are for Hinata," Naruto replied. Looking at the purple blossoms, he suddenly remembered what Teuchi and Ayame had said the night before. Maybe if he just sent the flowers and gave Hinata some time to mull things over, he would be allowed to see her the next day.

"Actually, would you mind giving these to her?" he asked as he held them out to the young Hyuga.

Hanabi smiled impishly. "I'll take them straight to her room."

"Great, thanks!" Naruto exclaimed, thankful that she suddenly seemed to cooperate. Maybe flowers really were as effective as Teuchi had made them sound. "Just tell her they're from me and that I want to talk to her. I'll come back tomorrow."

With a wave, the blond Uzumaki ran off, looking forward to the next morning when he hoped to get the opportunity to talk to Hinata.

* * *

Naruto was many things, but patient was not one of them. When he was younger he even went so far as to declare his hate for the few minutes it took instant ramen to cook. Therefore, after a couple of weeks passed and all of Naruto's visits to the Hyuga compound ended the same way, he decided enough was enough.

Each day he would ask to talk to Hinata, the guards would tell him he wasn't allowed in, he would leave flowers and a message, then return the next morning hoping she would talk to him. He was honestly fine with this routine for the first week or so. He understood that Hinata would need some time to think and he was a little relieved to have more time to consider what he wanted to say to her. The only reason he continued to let this go on longer than that first week was because he realized he was starting to get a taste of what she must have felt. What was a couple of weeks compared to years of no answer to what he had to admit was probably the most epic confession he had ever heard of. And he trained under the most theatrical pervert around!

The morning after two weeks had passed, instead of getting up and heading to the Yamanaka flower shop as usual, he waited around his apartment until lunchtime. It seemed as though Hinata was hiding away in her compound in the mornings, but he was a little surprised he hadn't run into her at some point later in the day. Then again, the Byakugan would make it extremely easy to avoid someone if determined enough. Naruto cringed at the idea that he had really upset her to the point where she would use her bloodline to avoid him, but admitted to himself that it was possible.

Today, however, he would wait until the afternoon when she was more likely to leave the compound, then he would use his Sage mode to find her. The blond ninja had given her as much space as he could, but now it was time to settle things.

Sitting atop his father's head on the Hokage Monument, Naruto got into his meditative position and remained perfectly still while collecting nature chakra. As his eyes changed, he savored the feeling of the chakra of the people and things around him. It made him feel as if he was the Hokage already, watching over Konoha the way the shinobi whose faces were under him watched over it.

Pushing that to the side, he began to feel around, looking for Hinata's unique signature. The blond furrowed his eyebrows a bit when he found himself unable to locate her. Naruto checked the Hyuga compound, then in and around the entire village. Realizing that he was starting to panic, he forced himself to relax and think about what this could mean. He hadn't spoken to her in a couple of weeks so it was possible she had left on a mission that morning that he wasn't aware of. He quickly felt around for Kiba and Shino's chakra signatures. As her teammates, if their signatures were also absent he could safely assume she was on a mission and go ask Tsunade about it.

Naruto did not find their chakra signatures in the village, however when he spread his senses outward, he found them rapidly approaching from the West. Hinata, he noted quickly, was not with them. The blond shinobi decided to ask them for her whereabouts. Tsunade had been in a sour mood lately and he figured he'd rather take his chance with a post-mission Kiba and Shino than an annoyed Tsunade.

With his enhanced speed Naruto arrived at the gates minutes before Kiba and Shino. When they stopped to check in with the guards he deactivated his Sage mode and walked over to them. But before he could say anything, Kiba charged at him and punched him across the jaw, knocking him down to the ground. Before the Inuzuka could continue his assault, however, a swarm of bugs detained him.

"Kiba," said Shino cooly, "you said you wouldn't do this."

At that reminder, the Inuzuka stopped struggling and was released from the bugs. He did not, however, stop glaring at the blond on the ground.

"What the hell, Kiba?!" screamed a confused Naruto while rubbing his jaw. "I came here to ask you guys something and you just punch me in the jaw?!"

"This is your fault, you asshole!" Kiba yelled back. Before he could continue, however, his stoic teammate interrupted him.

"You said you had something to ask us?" inquired Shino, wondering if it would be about his now absent teammate.

"Yeah," Naruto affirmed, as he stood back up and dusted himself off, "I couldn't find Hinata so I thought maybe she was on a mission with you guys. But then I saw you heading this way without her and figured that even if she wasn't with you that you might know where she was."

"You are correct both for thinking that she would leave with us on a mission and in noticing that she is no longer with us," Shino informed him.

It took Naruto a moment to process Shino's roundabout way of saying things, but as soon as he grasped what the stoic man had said he began to panic.

"What? So she did leave with you? Why isn't she with you now? Oh my god, is she hurt? How can you guys be so calm?! Is she okay? Where is she? Do we need to send someone to get her?"

The blond's questions were cut short by some growling from Kiba, followed by, "What the hell? Are you suggesting that we would just leave her somewhere to die? And what do you mean is she hurt? Of course she is! You're the reason she's hurt! You're the reason we're not going to see her for two fucking years!"

At this Shino had to hold his wilder teammate back from punching Naruto again, but the Uzumaki didn't even notice. As soon as he had heard Kiba say the words "two years" it was like the world ceased to exist around him.

'Two years? Did he just say two years? What does he mean we won't see her for two years?'

Naruto contemplated what the Inuzuka had said to him and started to recover from the shock of what he was pretty sure it meant. He began to tune back in when he heard Shino talking to his teammate.

"Now Kiba, it is incorrect to say that Naruto is the reason we are not going to see Hinata for two years. Why? Because Hokage-sama was set on her taking the mission and it is a wonderful opportunity for our comrade."

A pouting Kiba was about to respond, but Naruto cut in.

"Wait, what mission? What are you saying we're not going to see her for two years? Where is she?"

Annoyed at being interrupted and still sore about learning that Naruto had never actually responded to Hinata's feelings, Kiba snapped back, "Hinata's gone on a political mission in the other Elemental Nations. She's staying six months in each nation so she'll be gone two years. Not like it matters to you. I can't believe that after what happened it took you two weeks to decide to talk to her."

"That's not fair!" Naruto snapped back. "I didn't just decide to start looking for her today! I've been at the Hyuga compound every morning for the last two weeks sending her flowers and trying to apologize and they keep telling me she doesn't want to talk to me!"

When he said this Kiba and Shino looked at each other, then back at the blond. Shino was the one to respond.

"Naruto, we left to escort Hinata to Suna two weeks ago so she cannot have been home."

"What? But I've been bringing her flowers every day!"

This time Kiba was the one who responded, "Unless you've been shipping them to Suna, Hinata hasn't been getting them."

"That can't be right. Hanabi said that she didn't want to talk to me, but she'd give her my flowers. I even got the kind that meant I was sorry! I checked with Ino and everything!"

Naruto was starting to panic. None of this made sense. He had been under the impression that he had been working to make amends the past couple of weeks and now these two were saying Hinata hadn't even been here.

When they heard Naruto bring up Hanabi, Kiba and Shino shared another look. Both had experience with the devious younger Hyuga and they were starting to feel bad for the guy who had obviously been trying to make things right.

"Naruto," Kiba began, "did Hanabi actually say that Hinata was there?"

"Yeah, the guards even said she had requested that I not be allowed into the compound."

Shino interjected, "Kiba seems to be implying that the Hyugas may have masked the fact Hinata was gone by not being upfront with you."

At this the blond shook his head, "No, I would have known if they weren't telling the truth. Ever since Kurama and I started working together I have the ability to sense when someone is lying. It's not perfect if I'm not in full Kyubi mode, but I would definitely be able to sense something as big as saying she was there when she wasn't."

"Why don't you tell us exactly what they told you?" Shino suggested.

Naruto thought for a moment before responding, "The guards told me that Hiashi's daughter had ordered them not to let me in, then Hanabi told me that Hinata didn't want to talk to me and that she would take the flowers straight to her room for me."

"It sounds as though Hanabi was able to hide the fact that Hinata was gone. Why? Because they didn't technically lie. Hanabi is also Hiashi's daughter and she could have taken the flowers elsewhere after passing Hinata's room. It is also true that Hinata does not want to speak with you. That is the reason she left so quickly when she could have waited a few weeks."

Naruto's head was spinning. "But, why would she do that? I've never even met her!"

"Hanabi can be pretty over-protective when it comes to Hinata," Kiba said, ignoring Naruto's mumbling about pots and kettles.

"Indeed," added Shino, "If Hinata told her sister about what happened then it is likely that Hanabi wanted to get back at you in some way."

"Yeah, dude, you should be freaking glad it wasn't worse. About a year ago I made a stupid judgement call on a mission and Hinata took some damage because of it. Hanabi somehow figured out what happened and saturated all of my clothes in some pheromones that made all the female dogs in our compound go into heat around me. It was terrible." Kiba shuddered, remembering that awful time. It was even worse because his family was able to actually understand the dogs. He still had nightmares of the things he heard and saw.

"It is likely that Hinata asked her sister not to do anything to Naruto," Shino postulated. "After all, she asked the same of us and the girls before she left. She would never want harm to come to someone she cared about and she stated that she just wanted to leave all this behind."

Naruto wanted to give Ino a piece of his mind for letting him buy all those flowers while knowing damn well that Hinata wasn't there. Even if he hadn't stated outright that they were for her, he was sure the female Yamanaka knew exactly what he was up to. That thought, however, was put on hold as he registered what Shino had said.

Hinata wanted to leave this behind. She wanted to leave _him_ behind. She'd already done so physically and now it was just a matter of time before she did it emotionally. He could not let that happen, not after he finally began to figure out his feelings for her.

"No!" he said forcefully. Shino and Kiba, who had been absorbed in their conversation were startled by the outburst.

"She can't," Naruto continued, "I won't let her." He was too afraid to specify out loud that he wouldn't let her forget him. "I am going to fix this, no matter what."

Kiba recognized the determination in his voice and realized he had to say something. "Look, Naruto, I know you don't like it when someone you care about is hurt. And I know you hate it even more when they are hurt because of you. But I think in this case you need to leave it alone. Whether or not you meant exactly what you said, Hinata finally got some closure out of it. And now she has the chance to get away and come to terms with it. I think you need to let her."

"What? No, you've got it all wrong!" Naruto said. Before he could continue, however, Shino interrupted him.

"I believe what my teammate is trying to say is that this is the perfect opportunity for Hinata to get over her feelings for you. Thus, any attempt you make at reconciling your friendship could only hinder her progress in that area. I agree that it would be best if you waited to rebuild your rapport with her until after she returns."

"I was trying to tell you I don't want to just rebuild a friendship. I don't want Hinata to get over her feelings for me because I want to return them!"

At this statement, the atmosphere around the three males changed.

"Naruto, she waited years, _years_ for you to return her feelings. Hell she's waited that long even for you tell her you _didn't_ return her feelings. You didn't acknowledge them _at all_. And you expect us to believe that you suddenly care about her that way? Don't you dare mess with us," Kiba growled.

"Kiba has a point," Shino said. "It is difficult to believe that you reciprocate our teammate's affections when you have always acted indifferent. However, Hinata's happiness is important to me so I am willing to hear you out. When did you begin to realize these feelings?"

"Uh, I guess it was right after the mission." Naruto didn't want to admit that he had eavesdropped on her at Neji's grave. "I started thinking about how she's been there and how she really seemed to get me. It's like she just understands me in this way that I've never really experienced. Plus, she's pretty and nice. So I figured I wanted to give it a chance."

The Inuzuka shook his head. "Sorry, but that's not good enough."

"You have to understand where we are coming from," Shino said. "Hinata finally has a chance to make peace with herself. We cannot allow you to disrupt that based on a whim. I know it seems unfair to ask this of you, but you must decide before doing anything whether you want to work for a serious relationship with her or not. There is no simply 'giving it a chance' or 'seeing how you feel.' You either want to pursue her seriously or not at all. We will not allow you to disrupt her for anything less."

The blond was rendered speechless for a moment. He could definitely see where these guys were coming from and didn't blame them for being skeptical. Naruto had been so eager to apologize and repair his relationship with the Hyuga that he ended up going about it in exactly the same way he had with Sakura all those years ago, headfirst, despite his intentions not to. He had already recognized that he _could_ fall for the heiress. He now had to decide whether he really wanted to and what exactly that would mean. This was much more intense than he had originally let himself believe.

"Okay," Naruto replied, "I see what you are saying."

Kiba was surprised. He had been sure the blond would not understand what they were trying to say. The Uzumaki was very much an act first, think later kind of guy. He was amazing on the battlefield, but this was an entirely different area.

"Look man," he said, "I'm glad you get it and the fact that you do makes me think that maybe you already care about her more than you realize. Just think about what we said and let us know when you've made your choice. We've got your back and if you are actually serious about this we'll be happy to help."

"Indeed," agreed Shino before he began to buzz ominously. "However, if you end up hurting her then know that there will be nothing you can do to stop us from destroying you. Hero of the shinobi world or not, there will be hell to pay if you play with her feelings."

Naruto was more than a little terrified of the Aburame. He could deal with Kiba's yelling and occasional punch, but the blond shinobi was positive that whatever Hinata's darker teammate could come up with would be very bad.

"You have my word that I'll take this seriously. And I never go back on my word."

Seemingly satisfied with this promise, the two young men and their canine companion continued on their way to the Hokage tower, leaving a very conflicted Naruto to contemplate the conversation they just had. He turned towards the hot springs, hoping a long soak might help him with this decision.

* * *

A week later, Naruto was sitting in his apartment, discussing the situation with a couple of shadow clones. If he was going to talk to himself, he might as well do it the right way. Unfortunately, their discussion was going exactly the same as all the others from earlier in the week.

It didn't seem fair to him that he had to go from zero romantic experience to deciding whether or not he wanted to pursue a serious relationship. And this wasn't a relationship with just anyone, but with Hyuga Hinata. She was important to him as a comrade, she played a major part in his group of friends, she was a very big deal in Konoha and, thanks to her current mission, the entirety of the Allied Nations. Their potential relationship would be watched closely by everyone.

He also had to take into account what her teammates had said to him. She had the chance right now to get away and have closure. The blue haired beauty could put all of this behind her and be at peace. Shino had been right in saying that it would be wrong for Naruto to ruin that for a whim. He couldn't deny that he felt something for her, but he wasn't experienced with romantic feelings. Who was he to say what was the result of actually caring for her and what was the result of guilt and loneliness?

In the midst of his thinking, there was a knock on his door. Naruto dispelled his clones and got up to answer it. He was very surprised to see Sakura standing there when he opened the door, though he was quickly on his guard.

"What, are you here to punch me, too?" he asked his pink haired teammate.

She looked at him sadly before shaking her head. "No," she responded, "Ino told me what happened. I wanted to come see if you were okay."

This was odd. He and Sakura looked out for one another on missions and cared about the other's well-being in general, but they didn't actually spend much time together outside of team meals and get-togethers with their friends. The blond stepped back and let her come inside.

"So, did she tell you about Kiba punching me in the face or about keeping Hinata's mission from me?" he asked bitterly. He was still pretty upset with his fellow blonde.

Sakura sighed. "She told me everything she knew. She also told me about the ultimatum Kiba and Shino gave you. I thought it might be a lot to take in so I came to see if I could help."

Naruto just looked confused. "Why are you acting like this? It's weird."

"What do you mean it's weird? I can't see how my teammate is feeling?" She asked aggressively.

Waving his hands in front of him to try to calm her down, he responded, "It's not that I don't appreciate it, but it's not like you came over because you heard I'd broken my leg and you wanted to help heal it. That, I'm used to. You've never talked to me about this stuff before so why start now?"

His teammate ran her hand through pink locks and said, "I know. I'm sorry I've not really been there for you emotionally. This might sound really awful, but I think I was always afraid you might take it the wrong way. Besides, before now your dating questions usually centered around how to get me to agree to a date and I was obviously not going to help you with that.

"It's just with Sasuke coming back and everything that happened with Hinata, I kind of want to turn over a new leaf for our team. Teams Eight and Ten are super close both in and out of missions. I would like for us to be friends. And friends help one another when they are having a hard time. So, for the last time, do you want to talk about it?"

Naruto gestured for her to take a seat at his table and he sat across from her. They sat in silence for a few minutes as he tried to figure out where to start.

"How do you know if you care about someone?" he finally asked.

Sakura laughed, "Well, I might not be the best person to ask that question. I decided I liked Sasuke when I was too young to really know what it even meant. At the time he was what most girls look for at that age: cool, smart, strong, and cute."

Naruto scoffed as he heard her description of Sasuke as a kid. "More like an arrogant asshole," he said.

The pinkette shook her head. "Now, notice I said most girls and not all. Obviously there was one who didn't care at all about coolness or ability. Hinata only had eyes for you. For the longest time we would all laugh when you said you were going to be the Hokage. You were the dead-last so it just seemed absurd to us. Little did we know, you would become the hero to save our world. Hinata knew, though. She never laughed."

"Really?" asked Naruto. He remembered that she had told him that he inspired her, but he hadn't known that she had believed in him even when he was a hot mess in the Academy. The thought of her believing in him even then made him feel warm.

"Mhm," Sakura nodded. "But back to your first question, I guess my feelings turned into something more than a school crush when we were on the same team. He was so broken, and once I stopped mindlessly praising him I could see that. I just wanted to help him, make him understand that he wasn't alone. I wanted him to know that I would stand by him through everything."

The blond listened to his teammate, surprised at how easy it was to hear her talk about her love for Sasuke. He had been chasing her for so long that he was sure it would hurt, but instead he just found himself curious. She'd never really opened up to him like this.

"After Pein attacked, when I went after Sasuke myself, I was convinced that killing him was the only way to save him. I know that's crazy now, but at the time it seemed like it was the right choice. He just kept hurting himself more and more with his hatred. Even then, though, I loved him. And now. After everything he's done and all the havoc he's wreaked, I love him. That's how I know I have feelings for him."

The pinkette looked at her teammate apologetically, "I'm sorry, Naruto. I know that was probably not as helpful as you would have liked. Our situations are very different. Actually, my situation is part of the reason I bonded with Hinata when she started her medic training."

At the mention of Hinata, the blond cocked his head to the side, hoping for some insight.

"I've never told you this, but when Sasuke left for Orochimaru I offered to go with him."

Naruto's eyebrows shot up his forehead when he heard this.

"I know, it was pretty impulsive, but I was serious then. I wanted to be with him, be by his side and help him accomplish his goals. When you came back from that retrieval mission so banged up, I felt awful. I had offered to go with Sasuke to help him, but I wasn't even considered strong enough to help try to get him back to the village.

"That was my reason for getting stronger. I wanted to be strong so that I could help get Sasuke back. Once I accomplished that then maybe he would consider me worthy to stand by him like I wanted to.

"Hinata felt the same way about you. You were an inspiration to her, but you were also her goal. She always knew that you would go on to do great things and she wanted to be able to stand by you, to help you when you needed it. We talked about it a lot when she first got comfortable with me during her medic training. I just thought you should know."

Naruto was silent as he processed this new information. Sakura watched his face, wondering how he was feeling about her revelation. She felt a little guilty about giving out such personal information on her friend, but the pinkette wanted her teammate to know how devoted the bluenette was to him. She figured that since Hinata couldn't be there, she would have to speak on her behalf so that Naruto could factor it into his decision.

After a few minutes, Sakura found herself curious about something. "Naruto," she began hesitantly, "can I ask you something?"

"Huh?" he looked up at her, startled. He had been deep in thought after what she had just told him and had forgotten for a moment that she was still there. It was hard to comprehend someone being so dedicated to him. "Sure, ask me anything."

"Why didn't you ever respond to Hinata's confession?"

The Uzumaki sighed before giving her the same response he had given Sasuke, "I just didn't know what to say. I didn't know how to respond to something like that, I wasn't sure how I felt about it and I just let it go for so long that I felt ridiculous bringing it up."

Sakura was quiet for a moment, before shaking her head. "No, no that doesn't make sense. I get that you probably wouldn't know what to say, but you're Uzumaki Naruto. You jump straight into all kinds of situations and make it work, it's just who you are. So, I have a hard time believing that you never responded to her because you just weren't sure what to say."

Naruto flinched a bit under her scrutiny. When she put it that way it really didn't make sense.

The pinkette could see that he was getting uncomfortable so she said, "Look, you don't have to answer me. I was just curious. But I do think it's something you should think about, and I mean really think about. Maybe the reason you never responded can help you identify something about your feelings. Just tell me you'll consider it."

"Yeah," the blond said, "that's not a bad idea."

Sakura stood up to leave and Naruto walked with her to the door. Before opening it, she turned to look at him.

"Naruto, I know you're really confused right now and I want you to know that I'm proud that you took what Hinata's teammates said to heart. I think that you caring so much about messing with her emotions means that you have at least some feelings for her."

The blond rubbed the back of his head with a bashful look on his face. "Heh, Kiba said the same thing."

"Well, I agree. And for what it's worth, I was there when Pein attacked. I saw what happened when she jumped in and I saw how you reacted when he almost killed her. You immediately transformed to six tails. That's two more tails than when Orochimaru pissed you off by talking about taking Sasuke's body. I know you're confused right now, but that has to mean something."

Naruto furrowed his brows. That was not something he had considered after his talk with Kiba and Shino. He knew Hinata meant a lot to him, but there were very few times he was so emotionally distraught that he had gone into a tailed beast transformation immediately. He would have to ruminate on that.

"Thanks, Sakura, that was helpful. I appreciate it."

"No problem," she said with a friendly punch on his arm, "that's what friends are for."

"Yeah," he responded with a smile, "friends."

* * *

An orange and black blur with a shock of yellow flew through the trees towards Konoha. He was returning from the latest of a string of back to back missions given to him by the Hokage. Naruto knew that this mission debriefing had to be the one in which he convinced Tsunade to send him to Suna. He had been trying to talk to her about it for the last couple of months, but as soon as he'd try to breach the subject she would quickly assign him whatever mission she had sitting around and order him to leave ASAP.

He had initially just accepted it since he figured the more missions he successfully accomplished, the easier it would be to convince Tsunade to let him go on a political mission. Now, however, Shikamaru would be leaving for Suna in just a few weeks time and he could no longer afford to let Tsunade dodge his request. Hinata was there and he was going after her.

Kiba, Shino, and even Kurenai had all given him their blessing. First, Naruto had told Hinata's teammates where he stood. The blond was still having a difficult time defining the emotions he felt towards the girl. However, the more he thought about how she had always believed in him and how she had helped him through some of his worst moments, the more he realized that if he was going to pursue a relationship with anyone, it had to be Hinata. And he was definitely ready for a relationship.

The Uzumaki had wanted a family ever since he was a young orphan. Now that the war was over, he had also started to think about really working towards his goal as Hokage. He had trained to become strong, but knew there was more to it than just that. He wanted someone by his side who could support him and make up for some of his shortcomings. After everything she had confessed and done for him through the years, the blue haired Hyuga was the only one he could see in that role.

When Naruto had explained all this to the two young men, they had nodded and told him to talk to Kurenai. As a sort of mother figure to Hinata, they agreed it would be good to get her blessing as well. Once the blond had finished explaining everything to her, she smiled at him and told him to go for it. She suggested that he tell Hinata about everything he had been thinking and feeling. The crimson eyed woman seemed certain that her former student would be able to help him define his emotions. She also informed him that he was welcome to talk to her if he ever felt the need to.

Now, with Shikamaru's trip to Suna rapidly approaching, he had to convince Tsunade to let him go. As he knocked on her door and announced himself for his mission debriefing, he reminded himself to be as formal and polite as he could muster. Even if she didn't grant him his request based on that, it should confound her enough to give him an edge.

Tsunade watched as the young man she considered family walked into the room. It had been a long day and she was eager to finish her paperwork and head home for some sake and a relaxing bath. Thus, she was a little short with him.

"Report."

"The item was delivered with no trouble aside from a small group of bandits who didn't even bother fighting once they saw I was a ninja. No missing nin or anything out of the ordinary to report, Hokage-sama."

Caramel colored eyes narrowed at the well mannered young man in front of her. Something was up. However, that bath was calling her name and she did not deem it necessary at the moment to focus on anything other than the stack of papers in front of her.

"Very well, you are dismissed," she said as she turned her attention back to her work. After a minute, when Naruto still hadn't moved from his spot, she sighed.

"Is there something else, brat?"

This was it. He would be as direct as possible so she couldn't dodge it again.

"I want to go to Suna with Shikamaru."

"No. Now, dismissed," she said, though she knew it wouldn't be that easy.

"Why not? I have successfully completed all of my missions since the war and I am on even better terms with the Kazekage than you are!"

Tsunade sighed. She knew why her fellow blond wanted to go to Suna and while she was definitely eager for the two to get together, Hinata had been so upset when she left that Tsunade really didn't want to disrupt what was shaping up to be an extremely lucrative mission, in many regards.

"There's no need for you to go. This is a trip to make plans for the upcoming Chunin exams. They always send Temari here and we always send Shikamaru there. They trust us to take care of their emissary and it would be insulting to send someone with Shikamaru as, politically, it would seem like we were saying we don't trust them to be able to take care of our emissary."

"That's ridiculous! Besides, we're all in an alliance now so we shouldn't have to worry about something like that."

"Actually, Naruto, it's because of that alliance that we need to be even more careful. Alliances are fragile things."

"I'm sure Gaara would understand! He's my friend!"

"Yeah, well Madara and my grandfather were friends and you see how well that turned out!"

"Me and Gaara aren't like them and you know it!"

At this point both were yelling. Tsunade took a breath in and decided to argue a different point.

"Look, brat, even if he would understand, I don't need to send one of my most in demand shinobi out on a social visit."

"In demand, my ass! I didn't have any missions for like a month after we brought Sasuke back!"

"Damnit, Naruto, we had you here because you are the one most able to deal with Sasuke! It was a precaution and I had to disappoint more than a few clients during that month to let them know you were unavailable."

"I know for a fact that not all of these missions were specific requests for me. I just got back from delivering an expensive vase to some guy's aunt for her birthday! And even if they did ask for me, missions like that aren't as important!"

"Not as important as what, Naruto? Money for the village is more important than you going off to chase some girl!"

"She's not just some girl! She's amazing and I have to talk to her!"

Tsunade just sat back and smirked, pleased that she finally got Naruto to admit why he wanted to go. When he realized his slip up he grimaced.

"Fine," Naruto said, "you caught me. But you have to help me out! You know how long she's going to be gone. I can't let her go that long without knowing how I feel."

The Hokage raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh really? Last I heard, you were rather indifferent to her. I think she can go two years without hearing that from you."

"That's not what I want to say! Please, Baa-chan, I really messed up. Please help me fix it. You're the only one who can help me with this."

Tsunade sighed. She really loved Naruto, but as Hokage she had responsibilities. "Look, I'd love to help you, honestly I would, but the argument still stands that you have no real reason to go with Shikamaru to Suna. I love peace as much as the next person, but it's not the best for business. I need a good reason to send one of my best ninja off."

The Uzumaki could see her point, albeit reluctantly. However, he suddenly remembered something from earlier in the conversation and got an idea.

"What if you sent me as training?"

"What are you talking about?"

"With my lineage, training under both Jiraiya and Kakashi, and role in the last war I know that I could be seriously considered as a Hokage candidate. Earlier, though, I didn't get why sending an extra shinobi could be considered insulting so obviously I need to learn some things. Just say the trip is training so I can learn about the Chunin exams."

"...That's actually a good idea."

"Oi, don't act so surprised! I can come up with good ideas!"

"Just shut up and be happy I'll let you go!"

Naruto, who had not been prepared for her to agree so quickly, just stared at her for a moment.

"Huh?"

"I said you can go. Now leave before I change my mind. I really want to finish this work so I can go relax."

Naruto bit back a retort about relaxing or drinking and instead opted for a loud, sincere thanks before bolting out the door.

Tsunade shook her head at his antics before getting back to the work in front of her. One glance at the papers on her desk, however, and a wicked grin spread across her lips. Unfortunately for Naruto, his idea had been a little too good. Now the Godaime was going to do some matchmaking and decrease her workload as an added bonus. It was times like these she was glad to be Hokage.

* * *

True to her word, Tsunade sent Naruto with Shikamaru under the guise of training. The lazy genius, however wasn't buying it. He knew the real reason the Uzumaki was so eager to travel to Suna. Ino wasn't exactly quiet about these kinds of things.

At first, Shikamaru was sure the blond would be teasing him the entire way about his almost relationship with Temari. The Nara was too lazy to bring up the subject with her and she was too stubborn to bring it up herself. Fortunately for Shikamaru's peace of mind, the situation with Hinata seemed to be occupying Naruto's attention and they had a relatively quiet journey.

Upon arrival, Gaara and his siblings greeted the Konoha shinobi warmly. Or, they greeted Naruto warmly while Shikamaru received a nod from Gaara, a small smile and elbow bump from Temari, and a sly look from Kankuro. Naruto looked back at the genius and Kazekage's sister who walked a few steps behind and wiggled his eyebrows. Apparently his excitement at being in the same city as Hinata was starting to make him act more like normal.

Once in the Kazekage's office, Shikamaru talked with the leader and his sister about any issues they would need to look out for other than the usual. The initial meeting was short, but Naruto was constantly shifting from foot to foot, obviously eager for the meeting to end so he could look for Hinata.

When the meeting was adjourned and a time set for the next one, Naruto didn't waste a moment in asking where Hinata was. Shikamaru noticed Temari tense at the blond's question and found himself grudgingly curious about what would happen. Gaara quickly informed the Uzumaki that she was away on a diplomatic visit and everyone in the room watched as he processed the information.

His disappointment was apparent, but quickly turned into disbelief. Naruto began to ask about her mission, how long it was going to be, if she had really already gone, and anything he could think of hoping that somehow one of the answers would be what he wanted to hear. The unruly blond was just short of searching the Kazekage mansion from top to bottom when Gaara reached a hand out and placed it on his shoulder, confirming with a firm yet sympathetic gaze that the kunoichi was indeed away.

A visibly crestfallen Naruto was invited to dinner with his red headed friend, while Shikamaru was entrusted to Temari who blushed almost imperceptibly at the command to 'see to his needs'. And so, Naruto found himself sitting across from Gaara in a nice restaurant that he apparently frequented enough to have a table reserved. The Uzumaki was down about Hinata's absence, but at the same time very glad to see his friend again. As they settled in with their food, Naruto's found his mood lifting while they talked.

"My usual companion is currently away and while I am sorry she is unable to join us, I find myself eager to catch up with you," Gaara said.

Naruto did not miss the 'she' in Gaara's statement and immediately zeroed in on it.

"Gaara, you didn't tell me you were seeing someone!"

Not realizing the implications of the phrase, the redhead nodded, "I see her often. She accompanies me to my weekly dinner and sometimes cooks for and eats with me and my family. We also work closely together."

"Wait, you have family meals with her? What do Kankuro and Temari think of her?"

"Well, she is a good cook, so Kankuro likes her. And Temari is quite fond of her. She practically thinks of her as a sister."

Naruto's eyes widened. This sounded really serious!

"Congratulations, man! I'm so happy for you! You have to tell me about her!"

At this Gaara looked confused. He knew he was not the most social of people, but Naruto sounded like he wanted to throw him a parade for having a friend.

"I don't think I could tell you much you don't already know. After all, you've known Hinata-san longer than I have."

If Naruto had had water in his mouth when he heard that, he would certainly have spit it out all over the Kazekage across from him.

"What?!" He exclaimed, "You're dating Hinata?!"

The blond was starting to panic. Was he already too late? Had his friend seen what it had taken him so long to notice and already made a move? If that was true, he couldn't take away Gaara's happiness! Naruto, better than most, understood Gaara's life and he didn't want to hurt him, but he couldn't give up on Hinata! Not when he'd just started to work out his feelings for her!

As Naruto descended further into a panic, Gaara sat there taken aback. He now understood why his friend had sounded so excited for him. From the blond's current expression, however, it seemed that was no longer the case. Instead, Naruto looked extremely conflicted. That was certainly interesting. The redhead watched him closely as he made his next statement.

"I am not dating Hinata-san."

The relief that flooded his friend's face was palpable. Definitely interesting.

"I am not sure what gave you that impression, but we are merely good friends."

Naruto was indignant, "_You_ gave me that impression! You said you were seeing her!"

"I did not realize the connotation of your question. You jumped to conclusions."

Now Gaara was just messing with the Uzumaki. This was a pretty rare opportunity, after all. He made sure to keep his usual stoic expression during his next comment.

"Hm, though now that you've pointed out that we are practically dating already it might not be such a bad idea. I certainly enjoy her company."

The redhead pretended to ignore the horrified look on Naruto's face and continued.

"And she is quite pretty."

Unfortunately for the Kazekage's fun (and fortunately for Naruto's blood pressure), the blond caught the tiny smirk that emerged after his last statement. He couldn't believe this!

"Gaara, you-you're messing with me!"

"Am I?" he asked, though he knew he was caught. "If you are so sure then why do you look so nervous?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "It just made me realize that I can't afford to waste any more time," he said.

The Kazekage stared at the person he considered his first friend. Hinata had not reacted well when he'd brought up what had happened with her, but this seemed like a different situation.

"I heard what happened between you two."

Naruto's horrified expression had him rethinking his decision.

"What? How did you hear?" The blond questioned, sure that however close they had become Hinata would not have broached the subject herself.

"Temari informed me."

Ah, that certainly explained her wariness when he was asking about Hinata earlier.

"Should I not have brought it up? I thought you might want to talk about it, but you're seem as uncomfortable as Hinata-san did when I brought it up with her."

This startled the blond. "You talked to her about it?"

"Yes. I mentioned it at our first dinner."

Naruto hesitated before inquiring, "So what did she say?"

Without missing a beat Gaara responded, "She thought I was gay."

"Huh? How did that even come up?"

"That is not important. I merely wanted to let you know that you and I could talk about it if you wanted to. I am your friend, after all."

"There's not much to talk about. I just said something without thinking and I guess it escalated. I was really hoping she would be here so that I could talk to her and make things right."

The redhead cocked his head to the side, "Why didn't you wait for her to return? I am happy to see you, but you've gone rather out of your way for an apology."

"Nah, she's waited long enough."

"You don't sound as though you are only talking about the incident I was mentioning."

Naruto hesitated to elaborate, but then realized that his fellow jinchuriki might be able to help him in a way his other friends couldn't. So, he told him about his past interactions with Hinata and what he had learned so far about her affections for him. From her words and actions towards him in the Chunin exam, to her confession during Pein, and their interactions in the war.

To say that Gaara was surprised would be an understatement. Hinata's confidence had increased significantly during her time in Suna, but her actions toward the blond were much bolder than he would have thought possible considering her demeanor upon arrival. Not to mention, Naruto's wish to avenge Hinata both against Neji and Pein and the effect her words seemed to have on him made Gaara think that his friend felt some affection towards the girl as well.

"I see. So why have you not told her of your feelings before now?"

"What do you mean?" responded Naruto, genuinely confused. He was unsure what Gaara was referring to.

Gaara realized then that Naruto must not be quite aware of said feelings. He had to admit that he did not have much experience himself in romantic matters so he decided it would be best to leave his friend to discover them on his own. Instead, he rephrased his question.

"From what you have told me, it seems as though you never addressed Hinata-san's confession and I am curious as to why. I don't mean to pry, but it seemed rather unlike you."

The blond sighed. He was glad that everyone found it unusual for him to ignore Hinata's feelings. Unfortunately, he had actually done it and that meant these same people wanted an explanation. He supposed he couldn't blame them since he'd been trying to understand it as well.

"I'm not sure, really," he began. "I told Sasuke and Sakura that I didn't know what to say, but they pretty much called that bullshit. So I thought about it and I remember seeing her after the war, she must've been on her way to her cousin's grave or something because she was wearing black and carrying some flowers in that direction. I thought about going over to her and telling her I was sorry about what happened to Neji and thanking her for what she did during the war and during the Pein attack. Then it made me remember what she said about not being afraid to die for me because she loved me and I just froze. I couldn't move. And I had no idea what to say or why I couldn't say anything at all and so I just didn't. After that I just started to ignore it like it never happened."

The two young men were silent for a couple of minutes. Gaara was the one to speak first.

"You know, after you defeated me and I decided to change my ways, I was afraid."

Naruto remained quiet, curious to see where the redhead was going with this.

"Even though I wanted to be like you, I was afraid that what happened with my uncle would happen again. He was the only one I felt close to as a child, and his betrayal was devastating. I didn't think I could take it if I decided to care for anyone other than myself and then lost that bond.

"For people like us, who grew up like we did, I think one of our biggest fears is losing the ones who are precious to us, whether through betrayal or death. We don't want to lose the bonds we worked so hard to make. To us, that is more painful than death. Perhaps that has something to do with your predicament."

Naruto was taken aback as he considered the Kazekage's suggestion. For someone who didn't have much experience with social interaction, he had been very insightful.

"That actually makes a lot of sense."

"I'm glad," Gaara responded, genuinely pleased he could help his friend.

"Though now that I think about it, maybe I shouldn't see Hinata. Maybe I should just let it go. Because you're right! I don't want to lose anyone who's precious to me. She's risked her life for me twice and flat out said she wanted to because she loved me. Neji died protecting both of us because she was about to take a hit that would've killed me. How can I be okay with that? At least if she hates me and gets over her feelings, she'll be safe."

"That is not true." Gaara shook his head. "Hinata-san is just that kind of person. She will put herself at risk to help people. Just because she is no longer interested in you romantically does not mean she would hesitate to die protecting you. You two are actually very similar in that regard. And as shinobi you both enter life threatening situations constantly anyway. At least if you allow yourself to have a relationship with her then you can both be happy."

The Uzumaki digested his friend's words. They made sense, but he was still wary.

"Besides," Gaara added, "is it not easier to protect someone when they are close to you rather than far away?"

He had a point.

"You're right. I just don't want to lose her."

"There is more than one way to lose someone."

Gaara let his friend mull over everything that had just been said as he ate quietly. Without warning, Naruto's hands shot across the table to clasp his just as he was about to grab another bite with his chopsticks. The movement was so sudden that sand had unconsciously surrounded the blond's hands in warning. The redhead found himself staring into blue eyes that shone with both gratitude and excitement. Once their eyes locked, Naruto broke out into a wide grin. Apparently he had come to some kind of decision.

"Thank you, Gaara," he said sincerely.

The Kazekage was somewhat dazed by the sudden mood swing, but he was glad he was able to help his friend and told him as much.

"In that case, do you think you could do one more thing for me?" Naruto asked.

"Of course," he said. The blond had that look on his face that promised he would accomplish his plan with or without his help. It would be easier to keep an eye on him if he was involved.

Naruto was pleased, which showed as his smile got impossibly wider. "I'm going to need to talk to your sister."

* * *

**There you have it! I hope everything made sense!**

**I originally had a lot of Naruto and Gaara's conversation planned to happen during his talk with Sakura, but realized it fit better with Gaara. However, I still wanted to work on establishing an actual friendship between Naruto and Sakura for the story.**

**I know I said last chapter that I would combine Iwa and Kiri, but due to a review I received I am actually going to separate them. I want to make sure Hinata is at the point she is supposed to be when she returns and to do that it's important to have her grow some more on her own. Not to worry, though, as I had a little less planned for Iwa and Kiri originally than for Suna and Kumo so the chapters shouldn't take quite as long to get out. Also, I won't have a Konoha break in between and will combine that year into one single chapter.**

**Let me know what you think so far!**


	5. Iwa

**Author's note: I'm so, so sorry guys! I promise I didn't take so long just to be cruel. I got a little discouraged for a while and then when I got over that, I had a hard time giving this chapter the feel that I wanted it to have. So, it took me a bunch of writing and re-writing and revising and it ended up being way too much time. Sorry.**

**On a happier note: **SPOILER** we're cannon, y'all! I was so happy I cried. Seriously, it was ridiculous. It helped me get out of my funk and it was a LOT of fun to celebrate NaruHina month after that.**

**I want to thank all of you for your reviews and messages and everything that let me know how much you wanted this story to continue. Whenever I got discouraged or stuck, I would read over some of them and get back to writing. I want you to know that you matter to me and I appreciate you.**

**I do want to say that this story is strictly NaruHina. As in, neither of them will date anyone else. I just wanted to get that out of the way because I feel like this chapter might be a little controversial. Everything here happens for a reason, so please keep that in mind.**

**Without further ado, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Hinata: Sweetheart of the Allied Nations

Chapter 5: Iwa

Hinata sat outside the office of the Third Tsuchikage, back straight and face schooled into a polite, but emotionless mask. She was determined that this meeting would be nothing like her first meeting with the Kazekage. This was partially because she refused to relive something so embarrassing, and partially because Gaara had been kind enough to give her advice on the acting Tsuchikage, Onoki, whom he had dealt with politically on more than one occasion.

Onoki was the oldest of the five Kages and, from what she had heard, the most similar to the elders from her own clan. Gaara had told her about the Five Kage Meeting, where they formed the alliance for the war, and how the Tsuchikage had not taken him seriously because of his age. Onoki had soon after grown to respect Gaara, who had stood up to him and proceeded to prove himself both in wit and battle.

The Kazekage had warned her that Onoki, though slightly less biased than he used to be, had a very old fashioned view of the world. Honor, appearance, and reputation meant a lot to him and she needed to keep that in mind. Luckily, having grown up in the Hyuga clan, Hinata was used to being around people who thought this way. She was accustomed to acting a certain way around the elders in her family and had really begun to blossom from the shy wallflower that she used to be while in Suna under Gaara and Temari's guidance. She knew she could do this.

When a couple of Iwa anbu walked out of the office, the secretary nodded at her to let her know it was now her turn. Hinata stood up straight, and walked into the office with a quiet elegance and poise that impressed the two men who were inside. Hinata bowed to the Tsuchikage and the other man whom she believed to be Kitsuchi, the commander of the Second Division of the Allied Shinobi forces in the Fourth War.

"Hello, I am Hyuga Hinata, heiress of the Hyuga clan. On behalf of Konoha and the Alliance, I would like to thank you for allowing me to stay here for the next few months. I hope to ensure that our time together is mutually beneficial."

Onoki and Kitsuchi looked at each other and nodded, then looked back at the Hyuga standing before them. Onoki was the one who addressed her.

"Welcome, Hyuga-san. I am Onoki, acting Tsuchikage, and this is Kitsuchi, the soon-to-be Fourth Tsuchikage. I am currently training him to take over for me within the next year so you will be working with both of us through the next few months."

Hinata inclined her head towards the tall, burly man named Kitsuchi. She recalled his efforts in the shinobi war and knew him to be a formidable ally in battle, but did not know anything about him personally. She was actually surprised that there had not been any rumors going around about the election of a Fourth Tsuchikage. The heiress assumed it was a rather new arrangement or she and Gaara would have heard something about it when she was in Suna.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. You were impressive in the war and it will be an honor to work alongside both of you."

Kitsuchi replied, "You and your clan were also quite influential in the war. It just proves that the Hyuga reputation has not been exaggerated. I am sure that your time here will be productive for all parties involved."

Hinata could tell that Kitsuchi was not a man of many compliments, and offered a genuine smile in gratitude for his words. This meeting was going better than she had even hoped and she made a mental note to send Gaara something as a token of thanks for his advice.

"Now that that's out of the way," began Onoki, "I think it's time we get down to business. Why don't you tell me what you were up to in Suna and I will give you an overview of what we have planned for you here."

The heiress nodded, accepting this.

"In Suna I mostly worked alongside the Kazekage. Three days a week, I would work in or near his office on whatever he wanted my help with as well as attending meetings with him. On the days I did not work immediately with him, I would usually work through any paperwork that had come up or would sometimes work in the lab at the hospital on various salves. I had never before encountered their desert plants so I explored some of their healing qualities."

"I see. It seems you worked more with the Kazekage than any of the other political figures."

His tone made it seem as though he felt Gaara should have done it differently.

"That's true, though I did see them often either in the meetings or for various dealings they had with Kazekage-sama. Suna does not have as many clans as the other Hidden Villages so much as they have long lasting shinobi families. The important figures there are mainly people who have survived and thrived both in the shinobi and merchant life.

"Though the politics and my experience in Suna may be different from what I will experience in the other Nations, including Iwa, I didn't take this mission assuming that all the Nations would be the same. The point of this mission is to strengthen ourselves and see what we can learn from one another and our differences."

"Well said," Onoki complimented as he leaned forward slightly, "Would you care to share a little more of what you learned about their politics with me?"

The question as well as his tone when he had asked it rubbed Hinata the wrong way. She had to work through her wariness for a moment to remind herself that Onoki had been the Tsuchikage for many years, most of which were not filled with peace. He came from a time when intel on the politics in the other Elemental Nations was priceless and she knew that he had not managed to stay in his position so long without being shrewd. It was probably a reflexive question and all she needed to do was remind him of her purpose.

"Much of what you are asking for is in my written reports. Anything more than that will have to wait until the mission is completed so that I can take into account what I find from all of the Elemental Nations. When everything is finalized I will be sending out a complete report to all of the Kages."

Hinata made a mental note to really work on strengthening Konoha's relationship with Iwa. Suna was solid because of Gaara's friendship with Naruto and Kumo was on surprisingly good terms because of Naruto's friendship with Bee. Although Bee constantly tried the Raikage's patience, Ay trusted his judgment and therefore protected the bond between the two Jinchuuriki.

The Mizukage had seen enough war to last her a lifetime, since she came to her position after the bloody civil wars of Kiri and then led them through the Fourth Great Shinobi War. Hinata knew that she was a solid ally because of her past experiences and would do her best to help keep the peace.

The Hyuga heiress was now very glad that she had the opportunity to work with the new Tsuchikage. Iwa was undoubtedly strong, and Onoki had led them through many troubles, but it was likely that his old fashioned view had also permeated his village and people. Time with Kitsuchi would enable her to observe his way of thinking as well as help convince him of the benefits of this new system.

As Hinata made up her mind on that, there was a knock on the door. Onoki ordered the person to enter, apparently having expected them, and Hinata turned her head to see a young woman around her age walking through the door.

She was petite, maybe only an inch or so taller than Hinata herself, but she exuded an aura of confidence and capability, somewhat reminding her of Temari. The young woman had black hair, cut very short, and black eyes. Her arms were crossed in front of her body and she unabashedly stared down her two superiors as she narrowed her eyes and said, "What did you want with me?"

The Hyuga heiress had heard plenty from Gaara about the importance Onoki placed on decorum, so she had to consciously keep her eyes from widening and mouth opening at the blatantly rude manner in which this young woman had addressed the Tsuchikage. Naruto often referred to Tsunade as "Baa-chan", which would anger her, but everyone knew he didn't do it out of disrespect, just like she called him "brat" right back. The two of them had a unique bond.

Hinata was, however, unaware of who this kunoichi was and so found herself rather taken aback by her impertinent tone. She looked from the newcomer, back to the Tsuchikage, and waited for whatever would happen next.

Instead of looking irate, Onoki seemed to brush it off as nothing and said, "Kurotsuchi, I'm glad you managed to make it. This is Hyuga Hinata, from Konoha. She is the one who will be working with us for the next six months. I assume you made the preparations I asked of you?"

The kunoichi Hinata now knew as Kurotsuchi only slightly turned her head to give Hinata a once over, then looked back at the Tsuchikage and nodded curtly.

"Good," said Onoki as he turned to yet again address Hinata, "This is Kurotsuchi, my granddaughter and one of my personal guards. You will be staying with her during your time here in Iwa."

The Hyuga heiress turned to her hostess and bowed, saying, "It is nice to meet you. I appreciate your hospitality and look forward to getting to know you during my stay."

Kurotsuchi narrowed her eyes in suspicion. The Hyuga ego was as legendary as their fighting style and she was aware that this young woman in particular was their heiress. Therefore, there was no way her politeness was genuine. She could not, however, let her father and grandfather down by being blatantly rude to an important diplomat, so she sucked it up and bowed back.

"I hope to help make your stay a pleasant one."

When she straightened back up, she saw Onoki and Kitsuchi give her a look that said they appreciated her current attitude, but that it better stay that way.

She just rolled her eyes at them.

"Well," started Onoki, "now that that's taken care of, I think it would be best if you and Hyuga-san departed for the evening so that she can get settled in.

"Hyuga-san, you will have tomorrow to unpack and get familiar with your surroundings. Kurotsuchi does not have any missions so she is free to show you around. Meet here at seven sharp the next morning and we will get started on your duties."

Hinata nodded and turned to Kurotsuchi who gestured for her to follow. Before the two kunoichi could leave, however, Kitsuchi said, "Please make sure Hyuga-san is comfortable, Kurotsuchi."

The onyx haired young woman inwardly scoffed, but nodded in confirmation. She was annoyed, but not about to jeopardize the peace just because she was not pleased with the situation. She continued to walk out the door and Hinata bowed one last time to the two men before departing with her.

* * *

'This is some serious bullshit,' thought Kurotsuchi as she led the Hyuga kunoichi turned diplomat out of the Tsuchikage tower. 'Yesterday they tell me that my father is the one who is going to succeed Gramps when they damn well know that I've been working toward that for years. _Then_ they tell me I have to play nice hostess to some stuck up Hyuga for the next six months.'

The Iwa kunoichi glanced at her soon-to-be houseguest who was dressed in the standard Konoha shinobi attire. Although her general demeanor showed no exhaustion, the dust and slight disarray of her clothing indicated that she must have arrived from Suna just before her meeting. Kurotsuchi tried to get a feel for what was going through Hinata's mind at this whole situation, but found her features frustratingly blank. The only thing she could pick up was the fact that the Hyuga seemed to be observing everything she could short of activating her doujutsu.

Kurotsuchi's eyes narrowed at the thought of the uppity Hyuga heiress judging everything that caught her eye. She scoffed when she thought of how her father and grandfather had asked her to make sure their guest was comfortable. As if she was going to go out of her way to pamper some spoiled princess. Her home was nice enough. Being the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage as well as one of his personal guards had its perks, one being a fairly luxurious condo in a highrise right by the Tsuchikage tower. If what she lived in wasn't good enough for the prestigious Hyuga, then that was not her problem.

Hinata followed her guide down and out of the Tsuchikage tower, not paying too much mind to the obvious bad mood she was in. The heiress assumed something must have happened either earlier that day or the day before and she didn't really know the young woman well enough to ask her to divulge her problem to see if she could help. Instead, she did her best to be quiet and polite in order to not bother her further.

When they walked out of the Tsuchikage tower, Hinata took her first real look around. She had been pretty tired upon arrival and had followed the shinobi through the town to the Tsuchikage tower without too much observation other than to generally be aware of any threats. Now, however, she was curious and found herself in awe of the sights surrounding her.

The city was built into the surrounding cliffs and mountains and many of the buildings were made of, or carved out of, that same stone. All in all, the city looked both intimidating and utterly beautiful. She let out an involuntary shiver, not yet used to the severe climate change. The air was much thinner and cooler than it had been in Suna. This was to be expected, but knowing mentally that this would be the case was not the same as physically adapting to it. She was sure that training up here would help increase her stamina.

"This is my building," Kurotsuchi spoke up, interrupting Hinata's train of thought and causing her to come to a stop. She looked up and saw that she would be staying in a tall stone building only about two hundred feet from the Tsuchikage tower. That would be quite convenient.

The Hyuga diplomat followed her hostess into the lobby of the building and was impressed by the feel. The place was sparsely, yet tastefully decorated. Everything was obviously made well out of quality materials and she assumed that the people who lived here were fairly well off. Despite the minimal decor, the place felt comfortable and Hinata found herself just as impressed with the inside as she had been with the outside.

The kunoichi got into an elevator, something there wasn't a lot of in Konoha, and she saw Kurotsuchi press the button for the top floor. That explained why they were riding instead of walking up there. She appreciated the fact that her hostess was not making her take the stairs after such a long journey, but did not say this out loud lest she take it as a sign of weakness.

In no time, they reached the top floor and Kurotsuchi ushered Hinata into her penthouse. Again, the place was decorated with natural materials and neutral colors. Nothing was gaudy, but the Hyuga was able to gather that her hostess was definitely well-off. Her background meant that she knew expensive things when she saw them and the furniture and finishings were obviously rather costly. Everything seemed tidy and Hinata made a mental note to keep things that way. It wasn't an issue, really, but she wanted to make sure not to cause any trouble for the moody girl who was providing her with a place to sleep and, hopefully, some form of companionship in the future.

Kurotsuchi was not very talkative, merely naming each room as they passed the door, and they quickly reached the room where Hinata would be staying. The diplomat walked in first, taking note of the bed, desk, and comfortable seating. It looked like she would again be having her own bathroom and was thankful for that privilege. It only took a minute before Hinata noticed the beautiful view that her room provided. From her window she could see the rocky cityscape as well as the vast mountains surrounding it. In the twilight, the lights from windows gave the city an almost ethereal glow. The sight was truly breathtaking and her hostess smirked at the stunned reaction.

"I'm glad you like it," Kurotsuchi said, somewhat smug that the accommodations were obviously appreciated by her guest. She knew it had to mean something if the Hyuga heiress was in awe of her surroundings and whether or not she appreciated having one of their snobby family staying with her, she was proud of her place.

Hinata turned to her with wide eyes, pale like the moon shining outside her window, and said, "Thank you so much for allowing me to stay with you. I realize that it is probably not ideal for you, but I do not wish to be in your way and will do my best to make things easy for the both of us."

The sincerity in her gaze and voice took Kurotsuchi aback for a moment, before she narrowed her eyes, suspicious of such seemingly gracious words. Her guest was both a Hyuga and a diplomat and as such, was sure to know exactly what to say to get on someone's good side.

"The bathroom and closet should be stocked with any extra towels and linens you may need. I eat breakfast at 6. If you wish to join me, that is on you. This isn't a hotel and I won't provide a wake-up call."

The heiress nodded her understanding and thanked her hostess before said woman turned and left, shutting the door a bit too hard behind her.

When she was sure she was alone, Hinata sighed and sat down on the soft bed. She had known that not all of the Hidden Villages would be as welcoming as Suna, but she was starting to miss her friends and family very badly. There was so much to do in the way of forging relationships with the few people she had met as well as establishing a mutual desire for peace and all of the benefits that came along with it.

As she got ready for bed, the heiress's head swam with thoughts of Iwa and their political situation. She needed to endear herself to Kitsuchi and show not only him, but all of their shinobi and civilians that there were no hidden motives, no espionage, but a genuine desire to foster a true allied relationship both politically and personally.

Although it still stung to think about him, Naruto had taught her that the best way to gain allies was by fostering a genuine personal relationship with them. She had taken for granted the ties she already had in Suna, as well as the friend she gained so easily in their leader, the Kazekage. Iwa was not going to be nearly so simple and she knew that she had an uphill battle in front of her.

Weary from both travel and observation, Hinata fell asleep, knowing that her hostess would be the first of her obstacles. However cold Kurotsuchi had seemed tonight, she would not back down. It was, after all, still her ninja way.

* * *

Kurotsuchi had spent a large part of her evening after leaving Hinata's room looking through her guest's file. They certainly didn't have every bit of her information - even as allies, the nations recognized the need for secrecy in shinobi affairs - but it was enough for her to be reluctantly impressed.

Apparently Hyuga Hinata was one of the youngest Konoha shinobi to invent an original jutsu. This was even more impressive considering she came from a long line of tradition. Clans that passed down signature techniques did not often have a lot of innovation, in fact it was sometimes even discouraged. The more prideful clans did not want to admit that there was anything they could improve upon and it was no secret that the Hyugas prided themselves on their deadly and efficient taijutsu as well as their perfect defense. Despite this, Hinata had developed two of her own jutsu out of her clan's techniques.

She was torn. Initially, she had been extremely annoyed at having this spoiled princess of a diplomat thrust on her by her father and grandfather. Last night, however, Hinata had actually seemed genuine when thanking her and had not made any of the expected haughty comments. Now, after looking at her file, it seemed as though she could actually be a decent kunoichi in her own right and perhaps wasn't sent as a diplomat only because of her connections.

Kurotsuchi contemplated all she had gathered for a moment longer before standing abruptly, and making her way to Hinata's room. It was 5:45, but she wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. The Iwa kunoichi was not a person who trusted easily and in her experience, there was one way to tell the true character of a person.

She knocked on her guest's door and was surprised when it opened immediately to reveal the Hyuga looking dressed and ready for the day. The kimono she was wearing, however, would not be suitable for what she had planned.

"Oh," said Hinata, "I'm sorry, was I late for breakfast? I may need to change my clock."

She turned to look at the clock on her nightstand, but Kurotsuchi stopped her before she could move towards it.

"You aren't late, but you'll need to change. After we eat I'll be taking you to the training ground used by myself and Akatsuchi. Before we go anywhere else today we are going to have a spar."

The seriousness in her tone and shrewdness in her gaze told Hinata that her hostess had a very particular reason she wanted to do this. The heiress could tell that there was something Kurotsuchi wanted to find out and realized that this was probably going to be the only chance she would get to prove herself. She nodded, meeting Kurotsuchi's gaze with a determined one of her own and said, "I'll be ready."

Soon, the two kunoichi were standing opposite one another on the training ground. The mountain wind was strong and Hinata suddenly found herself thankful that her training with Temari had gotten her into the habit of braiding her hair over her shoulder. She suddenly understood the reason for Kurotsuchi's short haircut. It was much more practical in this kind of environment.

Hinata lowered herself into her ready stance and activated her Byakugan, ready to see what the Tsuchikage's bodyguard would do.

Apparently, the activation of her kekkei genkai was the signal to Kurotsuchi to start the fight and Hinata furrowed her brows as she watched the older woman rush towards her. Surely she wouldn't be attempting to fight her at close range?

Soon, a flurry of blows were upon her and Hinata was taken aback at the sheer audacity her hostess was showing in challenging her to a taijutsu battle. Hinata was not arrogant by any standards, but as someone who had trained and fought in the Hyuga style her entire life, she was more than aware of how effective it was. Taking a Hyuga head on in taijutsu was something that was discouraged in the entirety of the shinobi nations.

As Kurotsuchi attacked Hinata, she found herself reluctantly impressed by both her focus and skill. She was aware that the Hyuga had been a participant in the Fourth Shinobi War, but was having a hard time imagining someone who was the heiress to a noble clan being a capable fighter. Surely most women in her position would have focused more on the finer things like clothing and jewelry than actual training.

At first glance yesterday, Kurotsuchi had taken Hinata's long, beautiful hair as assurance that she was correct in her assumptions. Hair that long was entirely impractical in the shinobi lifestyle. When Hinata had met her outside her room dressed for a spar, however, she had been surprised to see her hair braided back and wearing a rather frumpy outfit for someone who was eighteen. The slightly baggy lavender and cream jacket and navy pants seemed practical enough, but her own outfit was also practical and she was much less covered. It was not at all what she had imagined from a pampered princess, but she would wait to make her judgment until their spar.

Now that they were fighting, Kurotsuchi was realizing she may have been wrong about her guest. Hinata was mostly on the defensive, but it was not because she couldn't gain the upper hand. Rather, she could tell that the Hyuga was holding back so as not to hit any vital points. Perhaps she was capable, but that was not a smart strategy. As she felt some numbness spreading in her arm, she realized it was time to take it up a notch.

The black haired young woman reached behind her and was impressed when Hinata was able to block the slash of her sword with a kunai. Although she realized the Byakugan had allowed Hinata to see what she was reaching for, she had to admit that her reflexes still had to be impeccable to parry her weapon so quickly.

Hinata wasn't sure what exactly her hostess's motives were, but she was not about to create an international incident her first day in Iwa by severely damaging the internal organs of one of the Tsuchikage's bodyguards. She was glad that Kurotsuchi had seemed to catch on to the fact that straight taijutsu was not going to allow her to win and prepared herself as she saw her unsheath a sword.

She had been previously unaware that Kurotsuchi was skilled in kenjutsu and mentally applauded the kunoichi for figuring out a way to create space between them and increase her reach so that Hinata would have to work harder to strike her. Hinata used her kunai to block the sword strikes with one hand, and continued to take advantage of any opening to use her jyuken with her other hand.

Kurotsuchi, however, was actually quite skilled with her sword and her maneuvers were becoming harder to evade with only a kunai. Hinata watched her opponent closely and as soon as she saw an opening, used her vacuum palm to blow her back as well as stun her.

The elder kunoichi smirked as soon as she regained her balance, which, as an elite shinobi, was sooner than Hinata would have preferred. Kurotsuchi wasn't sure if Hinata knew the full extent of her jutsu repertoire, but she was sure she would regret bringing the battle to that.

What followed was an impressive exchange of jutsus and defense maneuvers. Hinata found that Kurotsuchi was able to use three different nature affinities and because of this, had a very diverse range of moves. Because of the terrain and their location, the Hyuga was not particularly surprised that her hostess seemed to prefer earth style jutsus.

Kurotsuchi, however, was having a difficult time breaking Hinata's defense. She was quick, flexible, and she didn't allow herself to grow careless just because of her Byakugan.

Her earth spears were destroyed with Hinata's _Protecting Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms_. When the elder kunoichi attempted to cover her with a dome of earth, thereby trapping her, it was decimated by Hinata's _Kaiten_.

Kurotsuchi had long ago stopped trying to analyze her opponent and found herself instead focusing on and enjoying their fight. The Hyuga was not quite a match for her in skill, but seemed to make up for much of that difference with sheer determination. There was no hesitation or any underhandedness in the way she fought.

After sending a flurry of earth projectiles in the young diplomat's direction and narrowly avoiding a glowing, lion shaped ball of chakra, she realized that the most efficient way to end this fight would be to take away her opponents range of movement.

She used her earth release to create a multitude of craters around the field until the was sure enough of the area was ready. The elder kunoichi quickly used her _Lava Release: Quicklime Congealing Technique_ to cover and cause further damage to the already damaged terrain. Thankfully, Hinata had trouble moving through and getting on top of the resulting mess and before she could fully do so, Kurotsuchi used her _Water Trumpet_ to harden the quicklime, trapping the Hyuga in a concrete-like substance.

In a flash, the short haired young woman was in front of her opponent, holding her sword to her throat. Instead of disappointment or resentment on Hinata's face, however, Kurotsuchi saw a bright smile directed her way.

"Th-that was great!" said Hinata somewhat breathlessly, making Kurotsuchi realize that she too was panting quite a bit.

She lowered her sword and gave a small smile back.

"I have to admit I enjoyed myself. You are not what I was expecting."

It was a bit of a backhanded compliment, but Hinata gladly took it as it was the nicest thing Kurotsuchi had said to her since she arrived.

They made quick work of freeing Hinata from the cement and made their way back toward town.

"We'll go back to my apartment and clean up and then I'll take you to lunch," Kurotsuchi told her. "From there I'll show you around town like Grandpa wanted. If there's anything particular you want to know about or want to see, just ask."

Hinata nodded to show her understanding and the rest of the way back was silent. This silence, though, was much more comfortable than the tense one that had enveloped them on their way to spar this morning. The heiress was relieved that she seemed to have passed whatever the test was that her hostess had given her.

* * *

As they made their way down the road, Kurotsuchi pointed out various places on their way like the hospital, a convenience store, and a few shops and eateries. Hinata did her best to memorize everything she was seeing, more for the purpose of knowing what was nearby then knowing how to get back. The Tsuchikage tower was the tallest building in the village and with her staying so close to it, she didn't really have to worry about getting lost.

As she glanced around, she couldn't help but notice the looks she was receiving from the other Iwa residents. After her shower, Hinata had kept her hair down and picked out one of her heavier kimonos, taking into consideration the mountain wind from the training ground this morning. Fall was underway and the cool mountain air was a drastic change from the Suna heat.

The other Iwa residents were all dressed in various shades of brown, red, and tan. She stood out like a sore thumb in her deep purple kimono with lavender obi. With her tailored kimono and long indigo hair, she understood that she was probably an anomaly to these people. Instead of welcoming smiles from vendors and storekeepers that strangers usually received in Konoha, or even the nods of acknowledgment they might receive in Suna, Hinata felt distrustful stares following her.

Was Iwa really so wary? In Konoha, outsiders were documented when coming in, but were welcomed as potential customers and possibly even new residents. In Suna, travelers were treated with care, as it was a difficult journey through the desert, and the merchants were particularly pushy with their wares. This village and their people all seemed to be more leery of outsiders.

Assuming they were going somewhere specific, as they had not even slowed down when passing the restaurants, and feeling the need for some conversation, Hinata decided to ask Kurotsuchi where they would be eating.

"Um, do you mind if I ask where we're going?"

Kurotsuchi glanced over at her before looking ahead one more. "Sure, we're going to Rolling Stone Tavern. Akatsuchi and I are kind of regulars there. It's good food and good service. The company varies."

"A tavern?" Hinata asked, ivory eyes widening. She had only ever been in taverns on missions, and it was always when they were tracking criminals. With her byakugan, she had seen all kinds of seedy things happen in taverns.

Kurotsuchi's eyes narrowed at Hinata's tone. "Yes. A tavern. Is that not up to your standards?"

Quickly noting her hostess's menacing tone, Hinata backtracked. "No! A tavern is fine. I was just surprised because I've never been to one off duty before."

There, that was technically true. And her hostess seemed to accept her response as the tension around them lessened. Silence once again ensued and Hinata was left to her thoughts. She wondered how horrified Neji would be if he knew she was being taken to a bar on the first day of her diplomatic mission in Iwa.

She smiled sadly at the thought. It was always bittersweet when thoughts of her cousin would cross her mind. On the one hand, his reaction to her hostess taking her to a tavern for fun would be downright comical. On the other, she would never actually get to see said reaction in real life.

Soon, they arrived at the tavern and Kurotsuchi easily made her way through the crowd to a booth before taking a seat and gesturing for Hinata to do the same. Both kept pretty quiet as they ordered and waited for their food. Once they had begun to eat their lunch, Kurotsuchi decided to bite the bullet and try to make actual conversation. The problem was, it was a bit more like an interrogation.

"So, you're the Hyuga heiress?"

"Yes."

"And they sent you as the diplomat on behalf of Konoha and the Alliance?"

"Yes."

"Hm, I heard your Hokage was pretty insistent that you be the one to take the mission. Did she do that because you wanted to or was it all her idea?"

Hinata wasn't entirely sure how to answer that.

"Well, I did not know about the mission before she offered it to me, but she seemed certain that I was the right fit for it and I trust our Hokage. I will not let her or Konoha down."

The black haired young woman sat back. This wasn't going very well. She tried to think back on how she had made friends in the past, but it always seemed to go back to working or training with them. Polite conversation over food was apparently not her forte, but that did not mean she was going to give up. People trying to make friends usually asked about hobbies, right?

"So, what do you like to do?"

"Well, I like to knit. I also like to garden and press flowers. I find plants interesting because they can be both beautiful and useful."

"..."

Well, that was a dead end. Seriously, wasn't knitting for old people? And flower pressing? Really?

Kurotsuchi took a bite and purposefully chewed slowly so that she could think of something else. She looked over at her companion who seemed to be perfectly composed, as if she was entirely comfortable with the awkward exchange between them so far.

Sitting there the young woman seemed so demure, not at all like the determined kunoichi she fought just this morning. Suddenly she swallowed and smiled. Fighting was always a comfortable topic!

"Hey, so I noticed you didn't use any elemental jutsu. Is it because you don't know any or is it because your clan has a problem with them?"

Hinata seemed surprised at the turn in conversation, but was perfectly willing to go with it.

"Well, I do know a basic fire jutsu, but it's one that most shinobi in the Land of Fire learn. I'm sure you guys probably have an earth jutsu or two like that. Fire's not my natural element so I don't generally use it. My affinity is water and I found out in Suna that I have a secondary affinity for lightning. However, I wasn't training with anyone who had those affinities so I focused more on developing my Gentle Fist."

Kurotsuchi nodded her head. So she was interested in learning elemental jutsu, but hadn't had much occasion for it before.

"Water is one of my elements. I'm sure I can't beat whatever you'll come across in Kiri, but I could go over the more intermediate and advanced chakra exercises for water so that by the time you get there you'll be ready to learn."

Hinata snapped her head up, eyes wide with excitement and gratitude.

"Would you really? Thank you! I've done some basic exercises and I was looking forward to studying water jutsu more in depth when I got to Kiri. If you are willing to help me with training exercises then I will be more prepared than I was hoping for."

Once again Kurotsuchi was surprised by the sincerity in her words. Most politicians she dealt with were snobbish and always looking for whatever could benefit them. This young lady across from her, however, seemed to be perfectly genuine. It was odd that they would choose someone so candid for a job like this.

"Ah, yeah, it's no problem really. I also noticed you didn't use any weapons other than the standard kunai and shuriken."

"Yes, I've not actually known a Hyuga to specialize in any weapon before. My cousin was on a team with a weapons expert, but he stuck with our taijutsu. To be fair, he was considered a genius so perhaps he never felt the need…"

"I see. Would you be opposed to learning one? I think senbon would actually be a great fit for you. They are subtle and no one would expect it because you are a Hyuga."

Hinata considered that for a moment before responding, "I'd never given it much thought, but that would make sense. With my Byakugan and medical training, I think I would be able to utilize them very effectively."

The Iwa kunoichi smiled at her guest's train of thought. She hadn't even considered the extra possibilities given her kekkei genkai. The girls continued to discuss different strategies and uses Hinata could have with senbon before they were interrupted by two teenage girls.

"Excuse us!" they said, before giggling and looking at one another nervously.

"Good afternoon," Hinata said amiably.

Kurotsuchi was annoyed by the giggling and was much more curt in her response, "What do you want?"

The girls once again looked at each other before the braver of the two, the one who had spoken up before, stepped forward a bit and said, "Um, we heard that you are from Konoha?"

Hinata nodded her head, "That's true."

The girls' eyes got big and they started to look excited, "Oh my goodness, do you know Uzumaki Naruto?"

It felt like a rock had settled in Hinata's stomach, but she continued to smile kindly, again affirming that she did know him.

Finally the second girl stepped forward and Hinata saw a couple of envelopes gripped tightly in her hand. "Um, do you think you could give him these letters from us?" she asked.

"Letters?" Hinata asked with dread, as the rock in her stomach slowly grew in size. She was pretty sure she knew what was in the letters and she didn't think she was ready for this.

"Yeah," the first girl piped up again, "Our friend went to Konoha to give Uzumaki Naruto a gift and confession letter, but we weren't able to go and she refused to take ours!"

The second girl nodded, "She called us love rivals and said she wasn't going to let us win."

Hinata felt something grip her heart and it was physically painful. She knew that Naruto had gotten popular, but she didn't realize that girls were literally coming from other nations to confess to him. How could she possibly have thought she had a chance? Why would her confession have meant anything to him when beautiful young girls were basically flocking to him in droves to confess themselves?

Her insecure side kicked in and pushed aside any rational thought that her confession had been as she literally stared death in the face and that she had actually known and loved him long before most people even thought he was more than just a nuisance.

It was becoming harder for her to control her breathing and facial expression and she had no idea what she was supposed to say to these girls. The people in Iwa did not seem easy to please and she didn't want to start of her time by offending two girls who would undoubtedly tell everyone she was unfriendly.

But she couldn't take their confession letters to Naruto! What, was she supposed to face him after their last encounter and just hand him a collection of confessions from his fangirls? Not only that, but it hurt to think about aiding in other's confessions to him. She did her best not to be selfish and she was genuinely trying to get over him, but that was not something she was ready to do. Not by a long shot.

Luckily she was saved having to respond by Kurotsuchi.

"Are you serious? Do you know who she is?" she said incredulously. She was obviously upset and looked every bit as intimidating as the Tsuchikage's bodyguard as she stared the two teens down.

"You realize that you are asking the ambassador for the Allied Nations and heiress of the Hyuga clan to be some kind of love courier?"

The onyx haired young woman eyed their shinobi headbands and snorted derisively, "What kind of kunoichi are you? Now leave and get your priorities sorted before I decide you're not fit for duty."

The girls scurried away, visibly disappointed and rather afraid of their superior. It was safe to say they would not be making a request like that again.

Kurotsuchi settled back in her seat and heard Hinata ask, "Were you really going to declare them unfit for duty?"

The older woman smirked a little and said, "Nah, just because I think they were being stupid doesn't mean they're incapable. I just said that to get them to leave."

"Thank you," Hinata said quietly.

She looked across at her guest and noticed that the Hyuga had pushed her plate away, as if she had lost her appetite.

Hinata had kept a pretty serene exterior since her arrival, even in the face of her curtness the day before. It had not escaped Kurotsuchi's notice that that composure had cracked whenever those girls had mentioned Uzumaki Naruto. Not only that, but it had practically crumbled when they had asked her to take their love letters back to him. It wouldn't have been obvious to everyone, but it was to someone as observant as her.

Kurotsuchi hadn't known the diplomat for a full day yet, but she could tell that there was some kind of history between the woman in front of her and the war hero.

She crossed her arms in front of her and said, "You want to tell me why you looked like those girls were holding a kunai to your throat instead of asking you to take some love letters to Uzumaki Naruto?"

Sure enough, the unflappable Hyuga's eyes grew wide and the Iwa kunoichi watched the emotions on her face go from shocked, to anxious, to an attempt at her earlier composure.

"I, um, I was just trying to decide how to tell them that it was not something I should be doing without offending them."

Kurotsuchi snorted.

"Yeah right. Tell you what. I'm going to go order us a bottle of sake. Then, we're going to sit here and drink it while you tell me about what happened between you and Uzumaki."

The bodyguard was amused when her guest started spluttering in response.

"Sake?" she said incredulously. Neji would _not_ approve of this! "But, it's my first day here! I don't think I should be - "

Kurotsuchi cut her off, "Nonsense. You're off duty until tomorrow and I was told to show you a good time."

Hinata opened her mouth to protest again, but before she could say anything, her hostess said, "Look, I'm not good at this girl talk stuff, but I'm sure a little alcohol won't hurt. You tell me about whatever happened and I'll tell you why I wanted to rip Grandpa a new one yesterday."

The heiress quickly closed her mouth and reconsidered. This was obviously the gruff kunoichi's attempt at an offer of friendship and something she had been hoping for since she got here. Besides, it was obvious the girl was not a gossip and it might feel nice to be able to confide in someone while she was here.

She nodded shyly and watched with nervousness as her hostess left to procure their sake with a grin. She supposed she had been looking for new experiences and this would certainly be one.

* * *

Hinata sat at the bar, waiting for Kurotsuchi in what had in the past few months become their regular spot. When the bartender handed her her usual blend of tea without her even asking, Hinata smiled kindly at him and wondered if this was similar to how Naruto felt about Ichiraku. Instead of dwelling on this, as she would have previously, she shook her head of any thoughts of him and tried to find something else to focus on.

"You look troubled, miss," said a smooth voice next to her, startling Hinata out of her thoughts.

When she looked at the source of the voice, she found a young man, perhaps a year or two older than herself. He was tall, definitely over six feet, which made her have to tilt her head back to get a better look at him. His tousled hair was a deep chestnut color and just long enough that it fell into his eyes. Looking closer, Hinata noticed his eyes were a deep green, with a ring of gold around the pupil that seemed to spread into the green with little flecks of gold. She had never seen anything like them and although they weren't the beautiful azure she was used to admiring, she had to admit they were something else.

"Find something interesting?" the voice supplied again and Hinata blushed fervently when she realized she had just been staring at this stranger.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry," she said, almost jumping off her seat to bow an apology had the man not stopped her with a gentle grip on her arm.

"It's alright," he said, and Hinata noticed with relief that he sounded sincere. In fact, the small smile on his face and twinkle in his eye made her think he may have been slightly amused.

"I am sorry," Hinata said shyly, "I didn't mean to stare. It's just you have very interesting eyes."

"Ah," he said, "I have heard that before, though I have to admit it means a little more coming from a Hyuga."

Hinata tensed and became wary at that comment. She was easily recognizable and knew he probably knew her name because of that, but it didn't make her any less vigilant when it came to possible threats because of her heritage or doujutsu.

The man seemed to notice her reaction and smiled disarmingly. "Relax, I apologize if I worried you. I merely meant that with eyes as extraordinary as yours, a compliment on my own seems to carry more weight."

The heiress relaxed slightly, but still remained on guard. The man sighed and looked at her apologetically, "I am sorry. This has to be the worst attempt at talking up a pretty girl I've ever made."

Hinata blushed at the compliment and quickly said, "Are you admitting that you make it a habit to chat up girls in bars?"

The man smiled wider at her response, glad she was willing to banter with him after he had made her uncomfortable.

"You can't blame a guy for looking for love. And as a traveller, I don't have many of the same opportunities others do for finding it. It's a pretty lonely life and, while I'm admitting things, I have to admit that you were too lovely to resist, even though I'm sure I have no chance with someone like you."

She blushed even darker at his compliment, and busied herself with looking for Kurotsuchi in order to keep her flushed cheeks hidden from him. She had been complimented on her appearance before, but she had never had anyone approach her in an informal setting such as this. It was all very new and he was managing to throw her off balance.

"Ah," he said, noticing she was looking toward the door, "I see that I'm right and you are already waiting for someone."

Hinata was unsure why, but she felt the need to clarify that it wasn't another man. Perhaps she didn't want him to feel bad, or maybe she found him attractive and was actually enjoying the attention. Either way she told him, "I'm just waiting for my friend Kurotsuchi. We were planning to celebrate the announcement that she would be succeeding her father as the next Tsuchikage in a few years."

When she had first arrived in Iwa, her hostess had been very upset at finding out that her dream job had gone to her father. It wasn't as if she thought he was unfit for the job, but she had worked hard for it her whole life. To suddenly find out that her grandfather was stepping down in favor of her father instead of her, even after her years of service, was upsetting.

Therefore, when Kurotsuchi had been called in a few days ago to the Tsuchikage's office and told that Kitsuchi was only going to be Tsuchikage for the next five to ten years, until they felt she was trained enough and ready to take the mantle herself, it had been a big surprise. A couple days later, the official announcement had been made and the girls had made plans to celebrate on their next free evening.

Still looking towards the entrance, Hinata missed the dark look that passed across the man's face when she mentioned the upcoming Tsuchikage.

"Sometimes I feel as if this were a monarchy rather than a Shinobi nation," she heard him say, directing her attention back to him.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I'm just saying, the Third Tsuchikage was succeeded by his son. And now, it's confirmed only a few months into the Fourth Tsuchikage's time that he will be succeeded by his daughter. It might as well be chosen by birth rather than skill."

Hinata furrowed her brows, "That's not fair. Kurotsuchi has been working for this for a long time. She has been one of the nation's strongest kunoichi for years and, as the Third's bodyguard, has had a solid introduction to shinobi politics."

The man shook his head, and Hinata's eyes were drawn to the way his brown hair moved as he did so. He had mentioned that he was a traveler, but aside from the length and style of his hair, he seemed rather well-groomed for someone who was always on the road.

Her musing was stopped when he responded, "I'm not saying that she is not capable. I'm sure she is well suited for the position. I just think it seems rather unfair for those who want to make a difference, but do not have the same connections. There may be someone who is very skilled and feels the desire to change his home for the better, but does not have the influence he needs.

"The well-connected are not the only ones who have a vision for a better future, but they are most often the ones who are recognized as making a difference because they have the resources.

"What of those who are cast aside, unwanted, or unknown? Those who have to struggle for every little thing they have. How are they to make their mark on the world?"

The man obviously felt very strongly about this.

Green eyes observed the indigo haired maiden as she mulled over what he was saying. She had worked hard to get where she was, but even she had to admit that Tsunade had mentioned her training as Hyuga heiress and her reputation from the war as some of her reasoning in Hinata's placement on this mission.

His talk about those who were unwanted made her think of a certain blonde haired, blue eyed boy who had cried, trained, and fought tooth and nail for everything he had. A boy who had struggled for recognition and boldly declared in the face of any opposition that he was going to be Hokage. He had led a hard life, but he was now well known and well loved. He had not started out with the connections he needed, but had made them just by being himself.

She could certainly see where this man was coming from, but the source of her own inspiration was also the reason she knew it was not impossible for those who come from nothing to become something.

As Hinata prepared to tell him her thoughts, he chuckled lightly and the hardness in his features disappeared. In a lighter, more apologetic tone he said, "I'm sorry. You were sitting here ready to celebrate and I not only rudely interrupted you, but then proceeded to talk your ear off about serious things. You must allow me to buy you a nice bottle of sake for your celebration."

"Oh, that's not necessary!" she quickly protested.

"Nonsense," he said as he flashed another charming smile, "You are sweet for allowing me to rant to you when you clearly have your pick of conversation partners."

Before she could continue to protest, she heard her name being called across the room. Looking in the direction of the voice, she saw Kurotsuchi making her way through the crowd, smiling widely.

She felt a large, calloused hand take hers and immediately snapped her head back to look at the handsome stranger. He smiled at her and kissed the back of her hand, saying, "Despite my inability to make polite conversation, I very much enjoyed meeting you. I hope to see you again some day."

He then placed a bottle in her hand and closed her fingers around it. In a stupor from his previous gesture, Hinata blinked dazedly at the sake that was now in her hand. By the time she regained her senses, the man was gone.

Kurotsuchi waved her hand in Hinata's face, trying to get her attention.

"What's got you so distracted? Or should I ask _who_?"

Hinata blushed, "Huh? Oh, it's nothing. I was just talking to someone, but he left after giving me this bottle for our celebration…"

The Iwa kunoichi examined the bottle and whistled, "Wow, that's some expensive sake. You sure he's gone?"

The heiress glanced around the tavern once more, but the man's tall, lean frame and messy hair were nowhere to be seen. She shook her head, confirming that he had disappeared.

"Oh well, I would've liked to meet the guy cute enough to make you blush," Kurotsuchi said with a teasing smile. "I didn't get a good look, but he seemed a little familiar. What was his name? Maybe I can find him for you."

Ivory eyes went wide and Hinata blushed harder, insisting that there was no need for her to go to such lengths for a random stranger. She stopped for a moment, though, as she came to the realization that she had not gotten his name. He had known who she was, so they had not actually introduced themselves.

Hinata shrugged it off, assuming she would probably never see him again, and turned her full attention to her friend. They were there to enjoy themselves and thus was not the time to dwell on the identity of the mysterious traveller.

As they settled into their regular booth and poured the gentleman's gift into two cups, Hinata asked how Kurotsuchi's meeting with her father and grandfather had gone.

"Great," she said. "Actually, I talked about something with them and wanted to run it by you."

"Oh? What was it?" asked Hinata.

"Well, you know how the heir of the Akiyama clan has been out of the country on business since before you arrived in Iwa?"

She was aware of that. The Akiyama clan was the only one she had yet to meet and it was because the head was adamant about having his son be there when the Hyuga heiress visited. Hinata had been waiting for an opportunity to meet with him.

"It turns out, he should be back home within the week. There has been a group of bandits causing trouble in a couple of the small towns down in that part of Earth Country. I volunteered us for the job, thinking that we could stop by the Akiyama clan on our way back to Iwa. Obviously I wanted to clear it with you first, seeing as how we would be gone for the next two to three weeks."

Hinata knew the actual question Kurotsuchi was voicing. Delegates from Konoha would be coming at the end of the next week in order to discuss the upcoming Chunin exams. Suna had hosted the last one, and now it was Iwa's turn. According to the Tsuchikage, the same representatives that had visited Suna for the preliminary discussions would be coming to Iwa.

The idea of not being able to avoid Naruto had been causing her some stress and she should have known that her hostess would notice. Kurotsuchi had kept any discussion concerning what she had learned about Hinata and Naruto's history from that first day in Iwa at a minimum. She was there if the heiress wanted to talk, but for the most part kept her nose out of it.

This mission was her way of both getting out of the village for a bit (a rare opportunity for one of the Tsuchikage's bodyguards), and giving Hinata an out in case she was not yet ready to encounter the Uzumaki.

"I would appreciate the opportunity to assist Iwa as well as make the acquaintance of young Akiyama," Hinata said. '_Thank you for your help,' _was what she did not need to say out loud.

Kurotsuchi just winked at her and downed her cup. She smiled widely at the taste of the quality sake and encouraged the woman across from her to try it.

"If this is what happens when strangers try to hit on you then I'm going to have to use you to lure me in some good sake more often!" she said, causing Hinata's face to flame up once again. She should have known better than to think Kurotsuchi would let the subject drop. The Iwa kunoichi absolutely loved teasing her guest and the heiress assumed tonight would be no different.

No matter, though. Kurotsuchi had achieved her dream and she had managed to further delay her meeting with Uzumaki Naruto. They weren't exactly equal in magnitude, but she was thankful for her friend's help and determined to make this night memorable for her in return.

* * *

Just under two weeks later, Hinata found herself sitting in the Akiyama clan compound, waiting to be seen by the clan head and his son. Kurotsuchi stood behind her, as if she was a bodyguard rather than another important guest. When Hinata had asked why, she had shrugged and said that she was more comfortable with bodyguard protocol than social protocol. The heiress had let it go after that.

Very soon, an old man walked into the room, followed closely by a young man who, Hinata assumed, was his son. Both men were tall, but whereas the father was broad, the younger man had a much leaner frame.

"Welcome, Hyuga-san," the older man said with a bow. "I am Akiyama Kenta and his is my son, Kazuma."

The younger man stepped out from behind his father at the introduction and bowed politely. When he straightened up, however, Hinata's eyes went wide. His deep chestnut hair was slicked back, but his eyes seemed identical to the young man from the tavern a couple of weeks before.

She was confused, though. The man in front of her either did not remember her or was brilliant at masking his surprise. Perhaps she was mistaken and this was someone else, but it was hard to forget eyes like those.

"It is nice to meet you," Kazuma said and Hinata dismissed the voice in her head saying that his voice sounded the same as the traveller. It had, after all, been quite loud in the tavern when they had met.

"It seems the rumors of your loveliness were not exaggerated Hyuga-san. Isn't that right Kazuma? Hers is certainly a face you would be eager to return to?" Kenta threw his son a suggestive look that suddenly made clear the reason that the clan head did not want to meet the Hyuga heiress without his son being present.

"She is lovely indeed, Father," Kazuma said, while shooting Hinata an apologetic look that made her feel a bit relieved. She was thankful that the trip would not be full of awkward overtures. The young man was handsome, and memories of a similar pair of lips touching her hand made her feel a bit flushed, but her heart was not yet open to anyone new.

Hinata smiled politely at the compliment and sent a look to Kurotsuchi, who was obviously very amused at what was happening.

"Wonderful, well why don't you ladies make yourselves comfortable and we will have some tea served," said the elder Akiyama as he gestured to the table in the room. It was made of an expensive wood and the sides had some beautiful carvings that were similar to some she had seen on the outside of the home.

"Your compound is very lovely," said Hinata as they situated themselves around the table.

"I'm sure it's not as large or grand as you are used to, but we are certainly fond of it," said Kenta proudly. "Actually, we would be honored if you would stay with us for the remainder of the week. The clan will be celebrating Kazuma's return with a banquet in a few days time and it would be an honor if you would attend.

"In the meantime, I'm sure Kazuma would love to get to know you a little better," he added.

Warning bells were going off in her mind and she looked to Kurotsuchi to save her from the matchmaking father.

"I am unsure if we will be able to stay so long. Our mission took a bit longer than anticipated and it is likely the Tsuchikage would like his guard back."

Kurotsuchi merely smiled and said, "Oh, I'm sure Grandpa wouldn't mind if we spent a couple of extra days here. After all, how often do we get the privilege of attending an Akiyama banquet?"

At Hinata's betrayed facial expression, her friend merely gave her a look that said, '_Sorry, but this is just too good.'_

"Wonderful!" exclaimed the Akiyama head. His son kept a carefully neutral expression. He didn't seem upset by the idea, but also did not seem as eager as his father.

"I will have a couple of rooms prepared for you ladies. They will be right next to one another and have a connecting door so that you can feel more at ease.

"I'll also have them set out a few traditional Akiyama yukata for your comfort during your stay. Our colors will suit you perfectly, Hyuga-san," he said with a wink at his son.

"I was wondering if you could get someone to show me around, so that I can get a better feel for the place for security purposes. It's not that I feel your security is lacking, but it is something I am accustomed to doing whenever I arrive somewhere and would make me more comfortable," Kurotsuchi piped up.

"Absolutely," agreed Kenta, "That would be no trouble at all. I will have one of our guards show you the compound while your room is being prepared."

The onyx haired kunoichi thanked the man, before smiling mischievously. "I also hear you have some exquisite gardens. They are famous all throughout Iwa and I happen to know that Hinata here loves plants and flowers. I wonder if someone could show her those while I'm with the guard."

The old man's eyes lit up and looked to his son, who had already guessed where this was going.

"It would be my pleasure to escort you through our gardens, Hyuga-san," he said.

It was obvious that she was about to make the excuse of not wanting to trouble him so he added, "I have been absent for a long while and am curious to see how they have changed in that time. I assure you that I would enjoy your company."

His words were sincere so Hinata nodded, thanking him for his kindness while Kurotsuchi and Kenta sat smugly next to them. This would certainly be an interesting visit.

* * *

"Ah, there's nothing like a successful mission and a bit of pampering to make for a nice time away," Kurotsuchi said as they climbed the stairs toward the Tsuchikage office.

"It was certainly kind of Akiyama-sama to take such good care of us," said Hinata.

The short haired kunoichi snorted and said, "Yeah, well he probably figured he should treat his future daughter-in-law well so she would want to come back."

Hinata's cheeks gained a rosy hue, but she stayed quiet.

"Say, you've been pretty quiet since we left. Are you alright? You know I'm just giving you a hard time, right?"

The Hyuga diplomat smiled at her friend to let her know she was okay.

"You did seem to get pretty close to that Kazuma, though. I thought after that first meeting you were going to stay as far away from him as possible because of his dad, but you two actually spent a lot of time together."

She was fishing, but Hinata couldn't deny that she had, in fact, spent quite a bit of time with the young Akiyama.

"He was very kind and we found we had a lot in common. I enjoyed the opportunity to visit with him," Hinata said vaguely. The truth was, Akiyama Kazuma had approached her and offered his assistance with a significant issue. It was, however, very sensitive, as was their ensuing conversation regarding his motivations. There would be extensive ramifications if she took him up on his offer and she had been unable to stop thinking about it since.

"He was certainly not bad to look at, either," Kurotsuchi said while wiggling her eyebrows. Hinata had gone into serious contemplation mode after her last comment and she wanted to draw her out of it before they reached her grandfather's office.

Sure enough, her teasing had the desired effect and by the time they reached the door, the girls were speaking animatedly again.

Kurotsuchi barged right in, as Hinata had found she often did, and the heiress followed, bowing a slight apology though she knew it was perfectly normal. Onoki and Kitsuchi sat behind their side by side desks, working on paperwork. Well, Kitsuchi was working on paperwork, but she saw Onoki attempting to stuff away a suspicious little orange book.

"We received your mission report. Is there anything more you need to add?" Kitsuchi asked.

The women shook their heads. They had had some leisure time while awaiting the banquet and had produced a rather detailed account of their mission which they had sent ahead.

"Good. You did a nice job. We've already had multiple thank you letters come in from the families whose daughters you rescued. It is fortunate that you were able to save them all."

"Fortune had nothing to do with it," Kurotsuchi said. "Hinata's Byakugan enabled us to not only see where the girls were being held, but she was able to observe the habits of the bandits in greater detail so we could see the best time to get them."

Thanks to Hinata's Byakugan and her senbon training, as well as Kurotsuchi's Quick Lime Congealing technique, they had managed to incapacitate most of the bandits with little risk to the captives.

"Well then Iwa is thankful that Konoha sent you here and even more thankful that you agreed to take a mission for a foreign nation."

Hinata smiled at the burly man, "No thanks is needed. We are allies now, after all. If you ever need our help we are more than willing to lend a hand."

Suddenly Onoki spoke up, "Speaking of Konoha, the young men who came to talk about the Chunin exams seemed pretty disappointed that you were not here - especially that loud blond. He seemed pretty reluctant to leave before you returned."

She had known that Shikamaru and Naruto would be gone before they got back. First, their mission had taken a little longer than originally planned and then Akiyama Kenta had insisted they stay through the banquet for his son. Hinata had not been expecting them to still be in Iwa, but her shoulders still sagged almost imperceptibly in relief at hearing Onoki confirm that fact.

"He did leave something for you," the older man said, pulling out a medium-sized box. It looked as though it had been unwrapped and then someone had attempted to put the paper back in place, but had not quite succeeded.

He held it out to Hinata who took it carefully, doing her best not to let them see her hands shake. She purposely avoided looking at Kurotsuchi.

"I know they are your allies, but he seemed so crazy about us getting it to you that we took the precaution of having it examined for anything dangerous. We can assure you it's safe," Onoki said.

Well, that explained the wrapping. "Thank you," Hinata said quietly. It was hard to keep the shaking out of her voice as well as her hands.

They left the office and walked to their place in silence. The heiress was thankful that her hostess understood the current turmoil of her emotions, but she was a little embarrassed at the same time. Why did he still have such an effect on her? Ever since she had found out that he had fangirls seeking him out from the entirety of the Allied Nations she had tried to put any thought of him out of her mind as it was obvious she had no chance and she needed to come to terms with that fact.

She hated that she couldn't stop wondering about whether there would be another note. What would he say?

When they got inside, Hinata said goodnight to Kurotsuchi and quickly shut herself in her room. Finally alone with the package, she sat on her bed and picked off the paper with trembling hands.

It was a wooden tea box, well crafted, and one that she recognized as belonging to her favorite brand of tea. When she opened the box, her mouth went slack at the thought of how much he had spent to procure this much of her favorite blend. It was a special blend produced once every couple of years by a rather exclusive manufacturer in Tea Country. It was difficult to find and quite expensive.

Even as the heiress of the Hyuga clan, she was not one to flaunt her wealth. She was actually a little embarrassed by her expensive taste in tea and the only ones who knew of her preference for this kind were her teammates and her father. She didn't even tell Hanabi for fear that her younger sister would go overboard on a holiday or birthday and spend way too much getting her as much of the tea as she could.

Did he ask them for help? Did they actually tell him about it? If so, what did that mean? She knew they were familiar with her feelings and that they wouldn't want to hurt her. So why would they help him? Neither her teammates nor family had mentioned anything about Naruto in any of their letters and she was feeling confused.

Her curiosity gave her the courage she needed to pick up the small card that had been inside the box. She opened the envelope and her heart started pounding at the sight of the recognizable handwriting.

The message was only four words, but they were enough to keep her up the rest of the night.

_I never give up._

_-Naruto_

* * *

**Well, there you have it! I've never written any real fight scene before so I would love to know if it turned out okay. It was more about their observations of one another than the actual fighting, but I hope it wasn't boring.**

**My next chapter will have more detail of what it was that Hinata discussed with Akiyama Kazuma. The conversation really didn't fit in this chapter and it influences something that happens in Kiri so I thought I'd put it in there. Until then, feel free to guess!**

**Also, I hope the tavern name wasn't too cheesy. I happen to love the Rolling Stones and since they were in Iwa I found I couldn't resist.**

**Looking at what I have planned now, the chapters about the next couple of nations are going to be quite different from Suna and Iwa. I wanted to get the plot rolling a bit in this chapter so I introduced a couple of things that will be significant later. I hope you enjoy the hints I left!**

**One more thing, I've had a few inquiries about whether or not there will be a relationship between Sasuke and Sakura in this story. I'm going to be honest and say I'm not sure. I've left it open, but probably won't develop anything much unless it becomes helpful to the story. If they do end up together, I don't plan to focus on it. It'll probably be more like the small mention of ShikaTema in the Suna chapter. Hope that makes sense.**

**Anyway, I am back and promise to do my best for you guys. Thank you again for your support and I hope that this chapter was okay after such a long wait. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts!**


	6. Kiri

**Hello everybody! I wasn't kidding when I said I was back so I hope you're glad to see another chapter :-)**

**I promised something different and this is certainly that. I do want to warn you that there are some dark themes, violence, and almost rape. I wanted to give you a heads up in case anyone is sensitive to things like that.**

**On with the story!**

* * *

Hinata: Sweetheart of the Allied Nations

Chapter Six – Kiri

She'd had another nightmare. They weren't nearly as frequent as they had been immediately following the war, but in a way, that made them even more potent now.

Hinata woke up, her pillow drenched with sweat and tears. She knew from past experience that she didn't usually make noises in her sleep, so she wasn't worried that she had woken her companions in the next room. Her room was hot and the air was humid and she felt so emotionally volatile that the atmosphere was suffocating. She couldn't stay there. She had to get out.

She wrapped her sleeping yukata a little tighter around herself and took only a few seconds to jot down a note. She knew Chojuro would be worried if by some chance he came to check on her and she wasn't there.

The heiress opened up her window and leapt out, not in the mood to deal with sneaking down hallways and quietly closing doors. She knew it was irresponsible to sneak off, especially when they were returning from a mission, and the more effort she would have to put into being quiet, the more reluctant she would be to do what she was doing.

She was thankful that they were staying in a wooded area. It made her feel more at home. Then again, it was possible that the thought of home at the moment tormented her more than comforted her.

As soon as she reached a clearing, she lunged at a tree, attacking it with brutal force and precision. She was so upset that after just a few blows, the tree splintered into pieces. The sight of the splintered wood, the sharp spikes of the broken tree just reminded her of her nightmare.

It wasn't too often anymore than she dreamt of Neji's death, but it was always brutal. The actual event was hard enough to take, but the way her mind warped it was just cruel.

Hinata moved on to the next tree, reigning in her chakra and striking it with just physical force alone. She wanted to feel it, feel the tree bruise her hand, feel the bark cut into her skin, feel the pain she deserved as she pictured the Neji from her dream - the cruel Neji who looked at her with a sneer on his face and disdain in his eyes.

"_Hyugas have the ultimate defense and all you could do was throw yourself in front of Naruto?"_

She struck with her right hand.

"_If you were the strong heiress you were supposed to be, this wouldn't have happened."_

Her left.

"_It never mattered that I was the strongest, that I was the most talented. In the end I died protecting dear Hinata-_sama_." he spat out the honorific as blood poured from his mouth._

She struck harder.

"_I died for the main branch just as my father did. Thinking that I could defy my destiny was a sick joke."_

Harder.

"_I only became free from the seal in death. The only way for a branch member to be freed is by doing their duty. That is the twisted truth of the Hyuga clan."_

Hinata struck the tree so hard she jammed her wrist. She let out a small cry at the pain, but kept going.

"_How are you going to change anything? You couldn't save Naruto, you couldn't save yourself, and you couldn't save me."_

A violent sob racked her body and she collapsed on the ground, bloody hands fisted in the grass and angry tears pouring out of her eyes.

Even in death, Neji had tried to protect her. He told Naruto to watch out for her. Was she so hopeless? Was she so incapable that as he took his last breath he needed to make sure someone else would look after her?

Hinata forcefully stopped that train of thought. She knew that Neji cared about her. She knew that he was just trying to make Naruto understand that he was a part of something bigger than himself. She knew that he loved her and wanted her to be okay. It wasn't because he thought she was weak. In times like these, however, it was hard not to think otherwise.

The heiress activated her Byakugan and found a small lake nearby. She wasn't going to heal her hands. She didn't deserve the relief. However, it would be a good idea to wash her hands off so that her yukata did not get too bloodied. That, and she could practice controlling the water with her chakra. That had always calmed her, ever since she was a girl.

And even if it did not calm her, then it would at least exhaust her. Sometimes the only way to feel less was to be too tired to feel.

She quickly made her way to the lake and wished she had worn more than her thin yukata. She had not thought about anything other than getting away when she had fled her hotel room and, despite the risks she had taken thus far, refused to train naked in a foreign country. That was not a scandal she was willing to face if anyone saw. Besides, if Suigetsu managed to sneak up on her while she was like that, she would never hear the end of it.

Hinata stepped out onto the water and began swirling spheres of water around herself. She practiced shaping the water into needles, into projectiles, into blades. As she appreciated the versatility of her element, she thought back on her dream.

She knew that Neji had not just sacrificed himself for her sake, but also for Naruto and the Alliance and the future of their world.

Nightmare Neji, however, had made a good point. The truth of the matter was, even if they did so by choice, the only way for a branch member of the Hyuga to be free was by dying. They had to earn their freedom through doing their duty. They either died for the sake of the Hyuga or Konoha, or they lived a life under the influence of a seal that could be used to torture them.

No matter how she looked at it, it was wrong.

Hinata knew why the nightmares had begun again. She was feeling guilty for not yet responding to Akiyama Kazuma's offer. It came with so many possible repercussions that she had not been sure what to say. However, it had now been almost five months since he talked with her about it and she had nothing to blame except her own hesitation.

_Flashback_

_Kazuma offered his arm to Hinata as they left the room and she took it politely, painfully aware of the approving look the elder Akiyama was sending their way as they made their exit._

_Hinata was nervous. Their discussion over tea had been pleasant enough, but now she was suddenly alone with a young man whom she was having a hard time reading. Did he share his father's aspirations about a marriage? The garden would certainly be a fitting place to propose, but she was hoping to avoid anything like that, not encourage it._

_She had done well so far with the other clans. The Hyuga had explained that her current mission put her in an important position in the politics of the Allied Nations. Therefore, her current priorities were focused around fulfilling her duty for at least the next couple of years before even considering marriage. Ever the diplomat, Hinata had suggested that if they were interested, they could sent the traditional letter to her clan where the Head would place it aside for consideration. If they felt that two years was too long to wait, or changed their mind, they could later send a retraction._

_This process had thus far allowed her to avoid any sudden proposals during her visits to the different clans, and perhaps in two years time she would actually be willing to consider marrying one of them. There must be at least one or two young men who were actually nice and enjoyable to be around. Surely a couple of years would see her able to put her unrequited love behind her and move on to something both amicable and politically beneficial._

_Another factor contributing to her nervousness was the fact that the man next to her looked so much like the stranger she had met in the tavern. They had the same dark hair and the same distinctive eyes. In fact, the stranger had called himself a traveller and Akiyama Kazuma had just come back from a months long trip. Not only that, but going by some of what his father had been saying, he was gone pretty often. Was there really such a coincidence?_

_Although well hidden, Kazuma had picked up on his companion's uneasiness. He attributed it to the fact that his father had been so uncomfortably obvious in his desires for a union between the two. It's not that he would be opposed to such a thing, but he wasn't at a point in his life where he was focused on marriage. There were certain things he needed to take care of first, one in particular._

"_Rest assured, Hyuga-san, I do not have some grand romantic gesture planned for the garden. I am genuinely eager to tour it since my return and look forward to examining it with someone who shares my interest in flowers."_

_Hinata's cheeks warmed and she let out a small, relieved laugh at his straightforwardness. It was much appreciated in situations like these, and a very rare find. _

"_Ah, now that is a smile worth seeing," he commented, and she felt her cheeks flush further. "I hope that I can see more of it now that you are not worried I am going to bombard you with any over-the-top confessions."_

_He turned to see her reaction at the same time she turned to thank him for easing her mind. Their gazes met and, now that she was closer, she couldn't help but wonder at his eyes. The same brilliant green, the same golden flecks, it was absolutely uncanny._

"_Find something interesting?" she heard his deep voice say and she quickly found herself apologizing._

"_Sorry! I'm sorry!" she said as she bowed a quick apology._

_Suddenly she was struck with a wave of deja vu. This was exactly what happened with the traveller. Was Kazuma hinting that it was him? He hadn't made any previous indication that he had been the one she met at the tavern and she had started to think she was being silly._

_They made it into the garden and Hinata looked around in awe. There were flowers of all shapes, sizes, and colors surrounding her. It was dusk and the lighting gave the place an ethereal feel. She breathed in the sweet aroma and tried to figure out a way to bring up what she wanted to._

"_I hope I didn't give you the impression that I was upset with you," Kazuma said, aware of the distance the heiress had placed between them since he had called her out for staring at him._

"_I, um, I didn't mean to stare," Hinata said carefully, "It's just your eyes are very interesting."_

_She held her breath, wondering if she would hear the same reply she had heard a few weeks ago._

_Kazuma's expression softened, and he wore a small smile as he said, "They are the same as my mother's were."_

_Hinata recognized his tone, she felt the same. "I'm sorry for your loss," she said genuinely._

_He smiled wider at her, a mutual understanding between them. He moved closer to offer his arm again, which she took as they strolled along one of the paths. She couldn't help glancing at him every so often, still bewildered by his similarity to the traveller._

"_Is there something you want to ask me?"_

_She was embarrassed that she had been caught, but her curiosity was getting the better of her. "You kind of remind me of someone I met before. Do you have a brother, by chance?"_

_Hinata immediately felt Kazuma stiffen next to her and she didn't know what to make of it._

"_I do not. I can assure you that whoever you met was not a sibling of mine," he said coldly._

_Had she angered him? She certainly hadn't meant to. Even if she didn't have Hanabi, she couldn't imagine reacting so strongly should someone ask if she had a sibling._

_They walked along in silence for a while longer. The Hyuga wasn't sure if she should unlock their arms, but Kazuma had made no move to do so, despite his rigid demeanor, and she didn't want to offend him further._

_She was focusing on the plants and flowers they were passing. There were a large variety and there were a few she had never seen before, not even in her books. She made a mental note to ask if it would be okay for her to press a few during her stay._

_Her companion finally broke the silence, sounding apologetic as he said, "I'm sorry for reacting that way. There is something about the clan that is not widely known and it is a bit of a sore spot."_

"_I see," said Hinata, "In that case I'm sorry that I mentioned it. I assure you I meant no offense."_

"_I know," Kazuma replied. "You seem like one of those people who would be hard pressed to offend anyone on purpose."_

_They were quiet for a few more minutes, one wondering if the other was going to inquire any further about the carrot he had practically dangled in front of her, but she was keeping quiet. He couldn't even tell if she was curious or not and he was impressed. He was more determined than ever to talk to her now._

"_You haven't asked about what I mentioned, not even under the guise of not offending anyone else in the clan during your stay."_

"_I appreciate the necessity of keeping certain things about your clan quiet."_

"_Ah, you see that is actually something I wanted to talk to you about."_

_Hinata turned to the Akiyama heir and tilted her head in a silent question. It sounded as if he was going to ask something about her clan, but surely that wouldn't be the case? This was hardly the time or place._

"_I am aware of the seal that the Hyuga place on their branch members."_

_The heiress immediately stopped walking and schooled her face into an emotionless mask. If he was going to try to pry into her clan's affairs then she would take her leave._

"_Relax, it's not like it's a secret. Everyone knows why Kumo tried to kidnap you all those years ago."_

_The mention of her kidnapping just had her further closing herself off. And she had been worried about having caused him offense! Before she could stiffly bow out, Kazuma continued._

"_Please know that I am not prying, nor did I want to remind you of what must be a terrible memory. I merely wanted you to know how we knew about the seal, so that you wouldn't think we had been spying."_

_Hinata stayed put, but said nothing, waiting for more of an explanation._

"_I wanted to offer you the assistance of the Akiyama clan."_

_Startled, the heiress furrowed her brows and looked at him warily. How was their clan supposed to help in something that was both a very private and complicated matter?_

"_We specialize in sealing. It's actually how we make our living."_

_She was surprised by this news. She had looked up information on all of the clans she had visited thus far, wanting to know what topics to avoid or what topics were good to bring up in conversation and she had not come across anything on the Akiyamas and sealing._

"_If that's the case, how come I've never heard about this," she asked?_

"_My father doesn't like to advertise the fact that we have to earn our wealth. However, when you go back to Iwa, you can confirm with the Tsuchikage that we were the ones who sealed the last two jinchuuriki."_

_Hinata made a mental note to confirm just that before asking, "If you don't tell people about your specialty then how do you make a living off of it?"_

"_If we hear about a problem that we feel we can assist with, we will go to them and offer our help. Of course, there is a confidentiality agreement that prevents them from letting others know that it was us."_

"_Does that really support your clan?"_

"_Well, we do get a kind of annual commision, if you will, for our past services with the jinchuuriki, as well as create various tags and scrolls that are sold in ninja supply stores. Besides that, the jobs that we offer our services for are generally quite large. I was out of the country for the last few months working on just one job. It was so complicated that it took a long time, but in the end we managed to solve it."_

"_Do you mind if I ask what it was?" Hinata wanted to get an idea of what these people were truly capable before even considering letting them near her clan members._

"_I'm sorry, but I cannot disclose anything. There would have been a country wide panic if word had gotten out. The confidentiality agreement is binding and works both ways."_

_Hinata stood quietly and considered all of this. His unwillingness to speak about this past job, even in the face of gaining a new one, was something she appreciated since it implied he would do the same for her. She didn't know what he had been working on, but she knew that the sealing of a tailed beast was a very complicated matter. _

_The Fourth Hokage had been one of their most talented shinobis of all time and, under pressure and time constraints, the only method he had been able to use was one that meant his certain death as well as having his soul trapped in the belly of the Shinigami. She had also never heard any stories of the Iwa jinchuuriki having control issues like Gaara or the bearers of the Hachibi before Bee._

"_I'm willing to consider your offer, but first I need to know something. Why do you want to help?" She had to know if he was just interested in money or if he really wanted to help her clan._

_Kazuma gave her a sad smile that let her know he understood why she was asking. He offered her his arm once again and she took it as a sign that he would tell her while they continued to walk through the gardens._

"_Hyuga-san, do you remember earlier when I told you there was a sensitive fact about the clan?"_

"_It seems the Akiyama clan has a few of those," Hinata said. She was aware that most clans had their share of secrets, but it was starting to feel like this one was shrouded in mystery. _

_The heir chuckled good naturedly at her rather terse response, knowing that he had put her on edge with his offer. He had known it was a delicate topic and kicked himself for not having approached it better. Hopefully what he was about to tell her would allow her better insight into why he wanted to help. It was not something his father had asked of him, rather something he had taken upon himself for personal reasons. _

"_When you asked if I had a sibling, I am afraid I snapped at you. The reason for this was because in our clan, you are only allowed to have one child. After their first child, the woman is sealed so that she cannot conceive or bear any more children."_

_Hinata looked appalled and he did not blame her. _

"_Long ago, we were a very large clan. As I'm sure you've seen in your travels as well as your studies growing up, most clans have a head and, in turn, a head family. Over time, various disagreements and personal vendettas came to a climax and there was a civil war in our clan that resulted in many deaths."_

_He stopped for a moment to let her absorb the information before continuing._

"_When it finally ended, the remaining members came together to reach an agreement. They decided that the best way to prevent this in the future was to prevent so many branches from forming. They created a seal that kept women from having any children after the first. It would still allow the clan to continue, but would keep it manageable at the same time."_

"_I don't understand," said Hinata. "You still have a main family. And even if your clan is smaller, are there not still disagreements or the occasional person who would rather someone else lead the clan?"_

"_We have meetings every 20 years to determine whether the current head and next in line are still the best choice. Not only that, but there is a succession ceremony that is really more of a grueling test they use to determine whether you are worthy."_

_Hinata nodded. There was something similar in her clan. For a while, when her father had supported Hanabi as the next heiress instead of her it had been because he doubted her abilities. Just because it was her birthright, did not mean the Hyuga would just place her as their next leader._

"_Okay, but how is this something that no one else knows about? I understand that the women in the clan grow up knowing this, but what about women who marry in?"_

_The heiress was confused. Akiyama Kenta seemed very excited about a potential marriage between her and Kazuma. If such a thing were to take place, would this be hidden from her until she was a part of the clan?_

_It seemed Kazuma had guessed her train of thought, "Father assumed that with the seal you would have to place on any children that were not the next head, you would only want to have one child anyway. We do tell women before they marry, but clan policy is not to say anything until they have already agreed to marry. _

"_We give them the option to leave once we have told them, of course, but for the most part our members marry for love and at that point the women choose to stay with their fiance."_

"_That is certainly very … cunning of your clan."_

"_Indeed it is," Kazuma agreed. He could tell that she was uncomfortable with this practice, which was good. He wanted her to understand why he wanted to help her and this was a large part of it. If she had brushed this aside, he would have had to go into the fact that sealing, no matter how advanced, was no match for nature and that there were sometimes complications. He didn't like to speak of those._

"_I, too, disapprove of this practice. It is something born of fear and continued simply because it is tradition. There are so many other options that they refuse to even consider simply because this is what our ancestors decided was best."_

"_I understand how that feels," she admitted quietly._

"_I know," he said, turning to look her in the eye._

_She recognized the turmoil brewing behind those striking green eyes. She knew the frustration, the feeling of helplessness when you were supposed to be the next person in charge and being unable to change something that seemed to trespass on basic human rights._

"_Is there more?" she asked, wanting to know everything he had to tell her. If she was going to trust him, and even consider the kind of upheaval that the acceptance of his offer would cause, then she wanted to hear it all._

"_There is. This is not just about my clan. They are my family, one day I will be responsible for them and I care for them deeply. However, this is even more personal."_

_Kazuma gripped her hands as he continued to keep eye contact. This was hard for him and he needed to see her listening, needed to know that she was going to take this seriously._

"_My mother's pregnancy had many complications. It was hard on her from the very start and after the third month, our clan called in a specialist to take a look at her. No one will tell me exactly what happened after that, but Tomoko, the woman who helped raise me and my mother's most faithful helper, let slip once that my mother and father had argued for days before deciding that she would be sent away to stay with the specialist._

"_Tomoko was allowed to go with her and stayed there through it all. When they came back, they had me, but it seems the strain of the pregnancy and childbirth had taken its toll on my mother. She was never the same and began to decline mentally."_

_Hinata squeezed his hands to offer comfort, seeing the tears that had begun to pool in his eyes._

"_My mother died when I was seven. About a year before, she had started to see things that weren't there and say things that didn't make any sense. I'll never forget what she told me before she died, though. _

"_She called me into her room and started apologizing over and over. She told me that she had been a terrible mother and hadn't wanted to let me die. When I told her that I was, in fact, alive, she looked startled and began to cry. Mother quickly became hysterical, saying that I should have known my brother, that it was her fault I never got to meet him, that she should have fought harder, and then she begged me over and over again to forgive her._

"_Tomoko came in and helped calm her down. I was allowed to hug her for a while, but eventually I had to leave. She died that evening."_

_The Hyuga started to say something, but quickly closed her mouth as she saw he wasn't quite finished._

"_I asked Tomoko about what Mother was saying, about a brother. I was so young I didn't know about the seal and she wouldn't tell me anything. So, I went to my Father, asking him what had happened to my brother. He shut down and wouldn't tell me anything except that it was impossible for me to have one. _

"_Later when I learned about the seal, I asked about what happened when someone got pregnant with twins. We don't apply the seal until after the first child, and it is to prevent any pregnancy, so I knew it was entirely possible that women might sometimes become pregnant with twins. Instead of giving me any proper response, all they would ever say was that it wouldn't happen. They said it was not a possibility, but I know that's a lie."_

_Hinata sucked in her breath and her eyes grew wide. She knew where he was going with this._

"_You see, don't you? I think they killed my brother! I think I had a twin and they killed him. I don't know at what point they did it, but I know that my mother didn't want it to happen and couldn't handle it. It has to be what broke her, what caused her eventual breakdown. She took care of me as best she could, but in the end she couldn't deal with it. That stupid rule killed my mother and I will do anything to change it."_

_She was touched. She felt her own cheeks wet with tears and, uncaring of any decorum at that point, lunged forward and hugged her companion. He gripped her tightly and cried until her shoulder was soaked through with his hot tears._

_Once he calmed down he stood back up and looked away, feeling a little embarrassed about having cried in front of his guest. He had never shared his true suspicions with anyone and voicing them out loud was one of the most difficult things he had ever done. _

_In order to compose himself further, Kazuma knelt down and studied the nearby flowers closely. When he came upon some beautiful red chrysanthemums, he smiled and plucked one. _

_The heir stood up, and Hinata suddenly remembered how much taller than her he was. She peered up at him inquiringly, wanting to allow him to choose the next direction of their conversation since the last bit had been so hard for him. The heiress saw that he had a beautiful red flower in his hand, and blushed as he tucked it behind her ear._

_Kazuma sat there and admired the contrast of the deep red against her dark hair and pale skin. It was strikingly beautiful and he smiled._

"_It suits you," he said. "And I hope you consider it."_

_Apparently he also knew the language of flowers. It wasn't often that she found someone who did and it always endeared them to her. A red chrysanthemum meant a potential new relationship, or proposal. It could also mean friendship._

"_I think I will enjoy my time here," she said, smiling sweetly._

"_I do hope so," he said, "And from now on I will not bring up my offer. If you are interested, please let me know, but I will not push. I would like to get to know you outside of business. I feel we have much in common."_

_They continued walking, arm in arm, for another hour or so, exchanging stories about their upbringing as well as how they had come into their interest in plants._

_Flashback End_

Kazuma was sincere. He understood much more about her situation than any other she had met before and he genuinely wanted to help. So, why was she hesitating?

She knew the answer. Seeking help from an outsider to the clan, an outsider to the _nation_ was considered blasphemy to the Hyuga. She had no idea how they would react if they knew she had even discussed something like this with Kazuma, let alone was actually thinking about accepting his aid.

Not only that, but it was obvious that the Akiyama was both well connected and well informed. Kazuma had mentioned Naruto's promise to change the clan from her first Chunin exams and her cousin's death as reasons he thought she might be looking to alter or get rid of the Caged Bird Seal.

She also knew that they offered their services instead of having people seek them out, but he had mentioned that the job he had been working on during the first part of her time in Iwa had been extremely classified. If that was the case, how had he found out about it?

It was a bit confusing and Hinata wanted to be entirely sure about someone before bringing them into her clan's most convoluted issue. However, Hinata knew this was probably their best option. TenTen was familiar with some aspects of sealing, but it was mainly storage and explosive seals that she used in tandem with her weaponry. Jiraiya had been the last seal master from Konoha and she wasn't aware of whether or not he had trained Naruto in even the basics.

Hinata could feel herself beginning to sink into the water and knew that she had pushed herself too far for too long while she was thinking. Wanting to conserve what little chakra she had left, she allowed herself to fall completely into the water and swam to shore, hissing at the pain that had developed in her hands and wrist.

As she stepped out of the water, a deep chuckle and menacing aura caused goosebumps to raise on her skin. She activated her Byakugan, but immediately deactivated it again at the pain that shot through her head. Apparently she had used up more chakra than she had originally thought.

The heiress watched as a hulking, seven foot figure revealed itself from behind a couple of trees. She saw the nasty smirk on his face grow as his eyes scanned her body.

Hinata was suddenly very aware of the fact that the only covering she had was a very thin, very wet yukata that was clinging to her. She might as well be naked and it seemed her foe had noticed. She wanted to cry at her sheer stupidity for getting into this situation, but refused to let the man see anything of the sort.

Despite her exhaustion and pain, she stood with her back straight and held her head high as she stared him down and asked, "What business do you have with me?"

"I think it's pretty obvious," he said menacingly as he stalked ever closer. "Apparently tonight is my lucky night. I was just on my way to meet a few associates when I stumbled across something very valuable."

Hinata bristled at being called a thing. "I am human, and I am shinobi. I will ask you once to back down before I consider you hostile and attack."

She slid into her gentle fist stance. Hopefully she could bluff her way out of this, or at least stall him long enough to figure out an escape route. He was a very large man so it was probable that he was not as fast, and there was no way that he could make his way through the trees better than her. She was from Konoha, after all. Trees were her specialty.

Before she could blink, he had closed the distance between them and backhanded her so hard she flew into a tree. Apparently he had guessed her train of thought and, unfortunately, was much faster than he looked. It also seemed as if his bulk was not just for show.

Hinata groaned and used her damaged hands to push herself up, but before she could get back on her feet, the man had yet again approached her and held her by her throat against the tree.

"Don't think I'm stupid. I saw how long you were out there practicing. That is some taxing stuff you were doing. I also saw you swimming instead of walking back to shore. I'm sure a lady such as yourself wouldn't have chosen to walk home looking so indecent unless you didn't have much choice."

His eyes roamed over her body and she felt both disgusted and exposed. They came to a stop on her forehead.

"Wow, an unmarked Hyuga. I knew there was one staying in Kiri, but I didn't think I'd be lucky enough to find her like this."

He tightened his grip on her throat and lowered his head slightly.

"You know, my boss hates people like you. You think you're so special, so entitled because you have your precious eyes. You people have money and influence and because of that you think you're untouchable."

"Th-that's not true," Hinata gasped out, having a hard time talking with the pressure on her throat.

"SHUT UP!" he yelled and she unwillingly flinched. "It is true! You think I haven't heard of the Hyuga defense? You think I don't know how much you guys pride yourselves on your perfect techniques?"

He was so worked up, spittle flew out of his mouth as he spoke and landed on Hinata. It just added to her disgust.

"You know, I'm going to take those eyes you love so much. I'm going to rip them out and take them to my boss as a present. I'll show him I bested an unsealed Hyuga and he'll definitely promote me."

Hinata felt chills run through her at his threat, but he didn't stop there.

"But first, before I take those precious eyes of yours, I'm going to take something else."

He started to move his body closer to her and she began to tremble.

"I'm going to have my fun with you while you can still see. That way, the last thing you'll ever be able to see is me as I have my way with you."

The man began to lower his face to hers and she knew she had to do something, anything to get away.

Just as he was almost close enough to kiss her, she thrust her head forward, as hard as she could, into his nose. At the same time, she used what chakra she could gather into her fingers and struck the hand that was dangerously close to groping her.

He howled in pain and jerked away, and Hinata took that moment to try to flee.

"You _bitch_!" he yelled, and the heiress cursed the fact that she hadn't been able to get enough leverage to headbutt him harder. He was not stunned nearly as long as she would have liked, but it didn't stop her from trying to get away.

Unfortunately, she was still light headed from his choking her on top of her previous exhaustion. This allowed the man to catch up to her just before she made it to the trees.

He grabbed her and threw her on the ground, where he began kicking her mercilessly.

"You bitch," he growled as he continued to kick her, "I'm going to make you pay for that."

Hinata gathered what chakra she could to shield herself even a little from the blows to her torso, but it could only cushion them a little. Soon, she stopped being able to do even that.

Darkness was starting to creep into her vision and as the man finally stopped and lowered himself over her, she thought it was the end. Her mind was screaming, yelling at her to get up, keep fighting, anything but let this man do what he was about to, but her body wouldn't listen. She could hardly move anymore.

The heiress felt the man begin to tear open her yukata and hot, salty tears began to pour from her eyes.

Hinata turned her head away, not wanting to let him see her cry, but he grabbed her face with one hand and jerked it back towards him. He was so focused on what he was about to do he didn't notice the figure running towards him until an elbow was slammed hard into his ear.

The large man screamed and fell over, but the cloaked figure who had attacked didn't give him a chance to recover before jumping on top of him and giving his face a few more blows with his elbow and fist.

Hinata's attacker was having a hard time seeing straight, having been hit so many times in the head, but he was definitely able to feel when one of his hands was pinned to the ground with a kunai. His scream was loud and shrill at the pain that shot through him.

"What do you think you were doing?"

The deep voice identified Hinata's savior as a man.

Once the larger man was able to see again, he looked at the man on top of him and his eyes widened in surprise and apprehension.

"I was just - "

"On second thought, it's pretty clear what you were about to do. I don't want to hear about it."

"But I thought - "

The cloaked man jammed a couple of fingers down directly behind his captive's collar bone, which stopped him mid-sentence.

"Stop talking," he said.

Hinata looked over and couldn't see exactly what happened, but she saw the large man become very still and her savior stand and move towards her.

He knelt next to her and scanned her for her worst injuries. He could see some serious bruising already starting on her stomach where her yukata had been torn and the side of her face was becoming swollen.

"I'm sorry I don't have any first aid materials on me," he said and Hinata felt that his voice was vaguely familiar.

The man took down his hood and ivory eyes met green and gold, before her head began spinning again.

"K-kazuma?" she gasped out.

"Is that what you are calling me? Well I didn't give you my name last time we met so I suppose I can't blame you for giving me one of your own."

"Traveller-san?" she asked.

The young man chuckled while pulling a scroll out of his cloak. He rolled part of it out onto the ground and channeled some chakra into a seal until an identical cloak appeared.

"Are you able to sit up?" he inquired as he watched her struggle to lift herself off the ground.

The traveller placed his hand on the heiress's shoulder and gently pressed it, halting her attempts to get up.

"Please stay still, miss. I don't want you to further aggravate your injuries," he said as he laid his cloak on top of her.

The covering alone made her feel so much safer and a few tears of relief escaped her eyes. She looked over at her savior and saw him rummaging through a pouch before pulling out a pill.

"Please take this, it should restore some of your chakra. It's nothing fancy like what you find in shinobi equipment stores, but it should help a little."

Hinata knew she should be hesitant to take anything from a stranger, even if he had just saved her, but she felt as though she could trust him. She opened her mouth and allowed him to place it on her tongue, before closing her mouth and swallowing.

The traveller noticed the tears on her face and wiped them away with his thumb.

"Don't cry. It'll be alright now. He won't hurt you anymore, I promise."

The bluenette turned her head and saw her burly attacker still laying prone on the ground. She looked back at her savior and asked, "How did you do that?"

"Ah, well I've picked up various ways to defend myself during my travels. Nothing fancy like you. I was just lucky he was distracted so I could get in the first good blow."

That was definitely not all there was to it. The sheer strength it would have taken to knock a man that weight and build off his balance, even when distracted, was no easy feat. That, and he had managed to keep him pinned after. Her savior had essentially brushed off her inquiry of his abilities, but Hinata was too tired and too grateful to care.

She began to cough slightly and the traveller moved closer, saying, "If you think you are up for it, I can put your head in my lap and give you something to drink. That pill was rather large so I'm sure a little water would help."

Hinata was already beginning to feel the effects of the slight restoration of her chakra and it was giving her some strength. She nodded and, with his assistance, rested her head on his lap so that it was upright enough to drink something.

Once she'd had a few sips, he put the water bottle away and looked down at her. Even with her injuries, her pale skin and ivory eyes glowed in the moonlight.

"You are very beautiful, miss," he said.

"Hinata," she whispered.

"Hmm?"

"My name is Hinata."

"I know."

"You do?" she said, brows furrowed.

"Of course. I've heard plenty about everyone's new favorite diplomat. You have become quite popular lately."

Despite the situation, Hinata could feel her cheeks flush.

"Um, since you already know my name, I think it's only fair that you tell me yours."

"Ah, that's right, I still never gave you mine. Well, my name is Takeshi, but you are welcome to call me whatever you want. Kazuma, Traveller, devilishly handsome stranger - I'll answer to whatever makes you happy."

He was trying to take her mind of her pain and, although it wasn't entirely working, she appreciated it.

She had no idea how long she lay there with her head in his lap, trying to recoup her strength enough to make it back, but she felt herself starting to drift off when there was a sudden spike of chakra and a whooshing sound. Takeshi quickly bent in half, narrowly avoiding something that cut the air right where his head had been moments before.

"What have you done to her?" asked a voice she knew all too well as Suigetsu's. Now she knew what that whoosh had been. It was confirmed when she saw the Hozuki appear from beside the tree the Kubikiribocho had landed in and pulled it out.

He bared his sharp teeth at them and Hinata was suddenly very concerned for the man who saved her. She started to speak up and defend him, when the traveller beat her to it.

"Calm down, I mean no harm," he said as he held his hands up, palms facing outwards in a show of non-aggression.

Chojuro appeared beside Suigetsu, his sword also at the ready and narrowed his eyes as his glasses glinted in the moonlight.

"How can we be sure?" he asked.

As much as it pained Hinata, she raised one of her arms and placed it on the arm of her savior. She still wasn't able to speak very loudly, but the stillness of the clearing helped carry her voice, "Please calm down guys, he saved me. That man on the ground attacked me when I was low on chakra and Takeshi came to my rescue. I'm very thankful so please don't hurt him."

Suigetsu and Chojuro lowered their weapons, but did not lower their guard. They had finally found Hinata and from where they stood she was obviously badly hurt, with some guy looming over her.

Hinata struggled, and managed to sit a bit, still clutching the cloak to herself. Takeshi helped drape it further over her, but quickly removed his hands when Suigetsu practically flashed across the clearing and held his sword to his throat.

"Suigetsu, please don't. He was just helping," she looked up at him with pleading eyes and the temperamental swordsman tched before lowering his sword.

"Look, I have to look out for you. If anything happened to you Sasuke would be here in an instant to kill me."

"Sasuke?" Hinata asked, shocked to hear him say something like that.

"Yeah, apparently the last time something happened to you his best friend nearly went crazy and destroyed everything. So, in order to keep him from doing something reckless or from annoying the crap out of him, I'm supposed to make sure you're okay."

Was he talking about the Pain incident? She knew that Naruto had almost fully transformed into the Kyubi after she had been stabbed. Was he implying that Naruto still cared enough that Sasuke had specifically contacted Suigetsu to watch out for her?

Something akin to hope swelled in her chest before she clamped down tight on it. This was not the time or place, and she'd rather not believe anything that she didn't know to be true.

Instead she looked over to where Chojuro was examining the large body of her attacker. He stepped back after a couple of minutes and said, "Well, unfortunately he's dead so we can't get any information out of him."

"I think he swallowed some kind of poisonous pill. When I was trying to question him, he bit down on something and foamed at the mouth. I looked and saw a small storage seal on the inside of his cheek. I don't know if it was something done by him or if he's in some kind of organization, but that's what I found."

Hinata furrowed her brows. She could have sworn she heard Takeshi tell the guy to stop talking rather than pump him for information. Then again, her vision had been hazy at best and her hearing wasn't great when it was happening. It was possible the traveller had said and done more while she was drifting in and out of consciousness and she just didn't remember.

Either way, his tidbit about the seal was going to be helpful information.

Takeshi stood up slowly, so as not to seem threatening, and stuffed his scroll and water bottle back into his cloak.

"Well, if you gentlemen have this under control, I will be on my way. I'm afraid I have places I need to be."

Hinata opened her mouth to protest, and he saw this and knelt down in front of her, giving her a kind smile.

"I didn't exactly anticipate meeting you again under these circumstances, but I'm glad I found you in time."

The heiress was torn between holding onto his cloak for some semblance of keeping her modesty and giving it back to him. He took notice of this and decided to put her mind at ease.

"Please keep the cloak. I don't want you to feel uncomfortable and, as you can see, it was already a spare. I can always get another. Besides," he said with a wink, "now you have something to remember me by."

He started to take her hand, but when she hissed in pain he dropped it quickly. "Well, I can't kiss your hand if it's going to hurt you. You'll need to let them heal so I can make up for it next time."

With that he nodded to Hinata's companions and headed back through the trees. Suigetsu and Chojuro shared a look and reluctantly watched him leave.

They still felt he was suspicious - after all, he had taken down a huge man who had given Hinata trouble, despite whatever state she was in, and had managed to dodge Suigetsu's sword. Those were not things ordinary men were able to do. However, getting Hinata back for treatment was a greater priority at the moment.

After conferring for a few minutes, Chujuro set to work sealing the dead man's body in a scroll for further examination back in Kiri, and Suigetsu asked if Hinata had enough chakra to see if her ribs were okay enough to travel. He had seen the way she was gripping her torso and didn't want to aggravate any broken or fractured bones enough to puncture an internal organ.

Hinata had explained it to him once before and despite the state she was in, she was pleased that he remembered something like that. He acted like he didn't care too much about what people were saying, but he actually paid attention more than he let on.

Whatever kind of pill Takeshi had given her had done enough for her to give herself a basic examination. Luckily, it seemed as if her ribs were only bruised. She ripped some of the bottom of the cloak and instructed the Hozuki on how to wrap it around her to brace herself just in case there were any hairline fractures she had missed.

Hinata knew the only reason she was intact at the moment was because of her new defense technique and she silently vowed to show it to her fellow Hyuga when she got home.

As Suigetsu carefully scooped her up and they made their way back toward the inn where they had been staying, the battered and exhausted young woman finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Hinata woke up, feeling extremely groggy. She was surrounded by bright light and white and for a moment thought the worst, before realizing she wouldn't feel so sore if she was dead.

A short scan of the room concluded that she was indeed in the main hospital in Kirigakure. She was confused, however, as Kiri had been a good day away from where they had been staying. If she was here, how long had she been asleep?

The heiress looked down at her arm and saw an IV, she followed the tube up to the bag and understood once she read the label. They had given her a pain medication that doubled as a sleeping agent for when they wanted to keep the patient asleep for the first part of their healing.

Apparently she had been even worse off than she'd thought.

Shame flooded her, and she felt her eyes fill with tears. Not only had she snuck away on a mission, but she'd purposefully exhausted herself of chakra because she had been emotionally distraught.

That was not acceptable - not as a Hyuga, not as a diplomat, and not as a kunoichi.

There was no getting out of the fact that she had broken protocol and placed herself in danger. What if Takeshi hadn't made it to her in time? What if her attacker had had friends who assaulted the comrades who had come looking for her?

Whenever she closed her eyes, all she saw was the disapproving glares of the Hyuga elders, her father's disappointed face, and her sister's eyes wide with fear for her safety. She was supposed to be on this journey to grow, to get stronger, but what good would strength do for her if her mind was in pieces?

She had kept all of this in - all her thoughts about Neji, about changing the seal, about Kazuma's offer - all to herself because she wasn't supposed to bring anybody into her clan business. However, she would be in no position to help her clan if she continued this way. Hell, it had already caused her to be in a position where she couldn't even help herself.

It ended today.

She knew that it would be looked down upon and she knew that the Mizukage could use anything she was telling her as information against both Konoha and her clan. She would leave as many specifics out as possible, but if there was anyone who understood the volatile aftereffects of a change like she was planning, it would be the Mizukage.

Terumi Mei had donned the mantle of the Fifth Mizukage after civil wars and bloody official practices had ravaged Water Country for years. She had worked tirelessly to put her country back together as well as reach out to other nations and hidden villages in the spirit of diplomacy. It had taken time and a lot of effort to heal, but she never gave up.

Hinata had made up her mind. She would ask Mei for advice and send Kazuma a message, letting him know she would be in touch.

With that resolve, the heiress reached over to press a button for the nurse. First things first, she needed to let them know she was up and find out when she would be able to leave.

After various tests and a few discussions with her nurses and doctor, Hinata was finally told that she would be discharged the next day. She wasn't happy that she had to stay away from her duty longer, especially when she learned that she had been asleep in the hospital for two whole days before waking up.

Hinata decided to take this extra time to consider how she would talk to the Mizukage. On the one hand, she had to be as vague as possible, keeping out any information too confidential, when she spoke with her. On the other hand, she needed to be specific enough to get helpful advice. It was a bit frustrating.

It was getting to be evening by the time she heard a knock on her door. Expecting it to be her dinner, she adjusted her bed so that she was in a more upright position and told her guest to come in. Instead of a nurse, the heiress was surprised to see the very person she had been considering talking to walk in.

Terumi Mei grabbed one of the chairs in the room and pulled it closer to Hinata's bed. The heiress watched her move her long, auburn hair to the side and sit back in her seat, but she was not yet able to look her in the eye. What would she see when she did? Disappointment? Anger?

The Mizukage had every right to be upset with her. She had been sent on a mission with Chojuro and Suigetsu to a village close to the outskirts of Water Country in order to investigate reports they had been receiving about a group of men who were going around spreading discontent with the government.

Malcontents weren't particularly uncommon, and it was also not uncommon for them to occasionally organize and attempt to spread their cause or philosophy. In Water Country, however, where there had been so much political unrest and violence in the past, they kept a very close eye on any reports of new groups coming to the surface.

This particular group had not become violent as of yet, but preliminary reports had described some of the men as menacing or of coming from troubled backgrounds. Mei had considered it important enough to send two of the new Seven Swordsman, including one of her personal guards, and she had asked Hinata to go along as well. The Mizukage had thought that her Byakugan would prove useful in spying on the men and she was correct.

Now, however, Hinata sat in a hospital bed. She knew that Suigetsu and Chojuro had to have transported her back there which means she'd become something she'd always feared being - a burden. Worse, she had endangered her new friends as well as burdened them.

Would the Mizukage consider this sabotage? She'd broken protocol on a mission she had accepted in order to aid Kiri, and in the process she had placed Kiri nin in danger. The diplomat knew the leader would have every right to be livid with her and she couldn't bring herself to look at her so she just stared at her hands.

"Hinata-chan," the redhead said softly. Hinata flinched at the term of endearment. Mei had been so kind to her and she had let her down.

"Please look at me, Hinata-chan."

She was not a child. She was an adult and she would face the consequences of her actions, no matter how much it would hurt to see how disappointed the Mizukage was with her. Ivory eyes turned toward the woman sitting near her bed and searched her face for any hint of what she was thinking.

To her surprise, Mei was looking at her much like Kurenai would whenever she was injured on a mission. There was no judgment, no anger for messing up, just concern.

"I-I'm sorry," Hinata whispered, ashamed for letting her stutter out, but knowing she needed to get those words out before anything else.

"I'm sorry for what I did. I'm sorry for getting myself in a bad situation, I'm sorry for breaking protocol, and most of all I'm sorry for putting Chojuro and Suigetsu in danger. I wasn't thinking and it could have been so much worse and I'm so sorry!"

Tears fell from her eyes and she looked back at her hands, bracing herself for the verbal censure she knew was coming.

"I can't say I'm okay with what happened," the Mizukage stated, "but I know you didn't purposefully endanger anyone. I also know you wouldn't have done what you did in normal circumstances."

She paused and Hinata nodded her confirmation, relief flooding her that her actions at least were not being considered purposeful treason. More than ever, she was thankful the Mizukage was so fond of the treaty between the Allied Nations. Anyone with a grudge against it could and would have used this situation as fuel against it. This would have disgraced her as a diplomat and worse, could have broken the peace.

Breathing somewhat easier, Hinata continued to listen to what her superior had to say.

"Now, I'm here first of all because I am worried about you. Chojuro and Suigetsu have both been by to check on you, and told me what they could, but most everything is still unclear. After seeing the state of your clothes, they feared the worst, but luckily your examination showed that you had not been raped. For that we are all thankful, but I need to know what happened that night."

Hinata winced, reminded of what the man had almost done, but dutifully supplied a report of what had occured. She twirled indigo strands around her fingers as she described how she had left the inn, gone to train, and lost track of time. The Mizukage listened as she explained how the large man had accosted her when she had been drastically low on both chakra and strength, and what he had threatened to do.

The heiress remembered everything painfully well, and told the older woman everything he had said about his boss, just in case it proved helpful. She described Takeshi's rescue as best she could, given her state at the time, and gave her own account of what had happened when her comrades got to the clearing. When she finished, she sat quietly and waited for the Mizukage to analyze everything.

"Thank you for the report. That was very helpful. We've had the man's body examined, but unfortunately we weren't able to tell much about him. It's possible he's from that same group we sent you to investigate, but he had nothing on him except a small amount of money. After seeing the seal on his cheek, they are examining his clothing to see if he had another seal on them containing any identification, manifestos, etcetera. Thanks to you, we now know for sure he was working with someone.

"Now, what I would like you to clarify for me, is the reason you felt the need to jump out your window and run off to train. You mentioned you were having trouble sleeping, but I am sure there is something more to it. I trust you, and I don't believe you put my men in danger on purpose, but I need you to be straight with me. This is very serious and I think I deserve a proper explanation."

Green eyes stared intently at her, and Hinata knew that it was now or never. This was the perfect opportunity to discuss everything that had been troubling her since her meeting with the Akiyama heir.

"Well, I guess it started back when I received an offer for help with a clan matter…" she trailed off, still unsure how to get everything across without giving away clan secrets.

"I understand your predicament," said Mei, "and you don't have to go into details on what exactly it has to do with your clan. Just please continue."

"Thank you. Since you say you understand, you can also understand why I've struggled with the decision on whether or not to let someone outside the clan help with such a delicate issue."

"Is there no one inside your clan able to help? This offer obviously happened while you were on your trip so I'm assuming it came from someone outside of your village as well. Is there no one in Konoha able to assist?"

Hinata shook her head. "Not really. It involves a very intricate matter and it is rare to find people knowledgeable in such an area." She furrowed her brows, still a little concerned on how much Kazuma had seemed to know about her predicament. Granted, Neji's speech from the Chunin exams all those years ago had been in public, but it was still not supposed to be common knowledge.

Mei interrupted her thoughts, "If you are so concerned about letting them help, then why consider it at all?"

"This is something I need to fix. I owe it not just to someone precious to me, but my entire clan - my family - to solve this problem. No matter what, it's not something I will allow to continue."

The Mizukage smiled at the determination in her voice and the fire in her eyes. Now this is the young woman she had come to respect. "Okay then," she said, "If that is the case, it seems like this is your best choice."

The heiress nodded. "True, before you came in I had finally made the decision to seek his help. However, there are many possible ramifications, both in and outside of the clan. I'm not even sure I will have enough support inside the clan to do this, but I believe I have the power to push it through. I had wanted to talk to you about how you managed to bring everyone together when you first became the ruler."

Mei's eyes opened wide in shock, "Do you honestly think it'll be that bad?"

"Obviously it won't be on the same scale as what your country was going through, but the issue is both extremely divisive and volatile. I will need to consider every possible reaction and do my best to have a counter ready."

"I have an inkling of what this might be about, but I won't make you confirm it for me out of respect for your clan's privacy. Just know that it won't be an easy path. Prejudices, traditions, grudges run deep and no one can be entirely prepared for the depth of the hearts of man, especially on a larger scale."

Hinata looked down again. She knew that this was true, but the Mizukage was so strong and even she sounded exhausted just by remembering what she'd had to overcome.

"How did you get through it?" the heiress asked.

"Conviction. I wanted nothing more than to make my country whole. I've survived so much bloodshed, so much violence, and I wanted a better future for everyone. It was hard, yes, and there were many times I thought I couldn't anymore, but in the end you have to get up every morning and remind yourself that what you are doing is what you believe is the best."

Hinata smiled. She knew how not to give up. That would never again be an option.

"Thank you," she said, deciding to leave it at this for now. If she thought of anything more specific in the future, it seemed like the Mizukage would be willing to answer her questions.

"I did have one suggestion for you," the redhead said, "but first I was wondering if you could tell me who offered to help?"

The diplomat shook her head apologetically. "I promised it would be of the utmost secrecy. I can tell you he is someone I met in one of the countries I have visited, but that is it."

Feeling bad for having to keep information from someone offering her advice, Hinata didn't notice the dangerous twinkle beginning to show in Mei's green eyes.

"One of your major concerns is how your clan will react to you bringing in an outsider to help in this matter?"

Hinata nodded.

"Have you considered making a marriage contract with this person? That would make him almost part of the family, with the guarantee that he would eventually be an actual member. It would be the easiest way to get your family to accept his help."

The blood drained out of Hinata's already pale face. She wasn't ready for something like that! Unfortunately, some of the more traditional elders would surely suggest it. This was just something else she needed to add to her list of possible consequences to avoid.

Though, what if it did help? If that was the only way to get them to agree, could she go through with it? She fought to keep her tears at bay as she knew she had already decided she would do anything she had to to make this happen. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that.

"I would prefer it if that wasn't necessary," she said quietly, not realizing that while she had been lost in her thoughts the dangerous twinkle in the Mizukage's eyes had become a manic gleam.

"But it could be so romantic!" Mei exclaimed as she clasped her hands in front of her and looked out into a reality that was not the same one they were currently sitting in.

"Just think about it! He's already offered his assistance. It could be his own way of pledging his love! With his undying love for you he would help you accomplish whatever it is you want and then you could get married and have beautiful babies."

She sighed dreamily.

Hinata was starting to feel awkward. That was not at all what she was going for.

"Um, no, that's really not what I'm trying to do here!"

"You have to tell me, was he cute?"

Green eyes were trained on her and Hinata blushed under the scrutiny. The young Akiyama wasn't the blond who haunted her dreams, but she couldn't deny that he was attractive. Mei took the blushing as confirmation.

"Oh, he is! This is great! As soon as you're out of here I'm going to take you shopping. All we have to do to help you seduce him is get you a some new outfits. That baggy purple jacket and pants is just not acceptable for a girl with a figure like yours."

"It's okay, that's not necessary. I'm sure you have better things to do!" Hinata tried to protest.

Suddenly the older woman's aura became scary and she lowered her head until her bangs shielded her eyes.

"Are you suggesting that I don't know how to dress to get a man?" she growled dangerously.

Hinata was terrified.

"No! No, that's not what I was saying at all! I just meant that you have so many things to do, I'm sure my love life is not something you need to trouble yourself with."

Luckily it seemed that was enough to pacify her.

"Nonsense. Besides, our silks are world famous! It'd be a waste if you didn't take advantage of them while you were here and who better to show you the best vendors than myself?"

Hinata knew she couldn't answer that without possibly setting her off again so she just smiled shakily and hoped it was convincing.

Mei stood up and beamed, excited about their upcoming shopping trip. "Wonderful, then it's all set! As soon as you get out of here I'll take you shopping! Oh we'll have a great time and you can tell me all about this handsome man and whether or not he has an older brother. Or cousin. Or perhaps a young widowed father..."

"Um, Mizukage-sama -" Hinata tried to grab her attention before she left.

"Oh, I've told you before to call me Mei, Hinata-chan! Especially now that we're going to have a ladies day out!"

"But Mei-sama - "

Before Hinata could say anything more, the door was shut and the heiress was alone again. She sat back and groaned, still sore from her injuries. She had been trying to explain to the Mizukage that she might not be in the best shape for a massive shopping trip right when she got out.

Maybe she could convince the doctors to keep her an extra day...

* * *

**So there you have it. I tried to lighten it up a bit at the end since it seemed like a pretty heavy chapter to me. It was necessary, though.**

**I hope no one is too disappointed in how it turned out. I tried to hint at who she had met as well as what she had been training in, but because of what this chapter explored there really didn't seem to be a place for what I had done for the other countries thus far. Kumo will also be different, but not quite in the same way.**

**You finally got to see what she'd talked about with Kazuma! Was anyone expecting that? I hope it was interesting. Now you can see why it didn't really fit in the last chapter. This is also the last you see of the OCs for a bit. They have parts to play in the upcoming story, but I want to get back to some Naruto and Hinata stuff.  
**

**Anyway, next up is going to be the past year in Konoha. I wanted to give you one more chapter of what's going on with Naruto before the Kumo chapter and then her return. **

**Let me know what you thought! Your reviews and follows/favorites always make me smile so thank you for all your support :-)**


	7. Konoha - Months Seven through Eighteen

**Author's Note: Hello everyone! Here's the next chapter! I had a few people asking if there would be another chapter of Naruto's point of view and this is it :-) Y'all got to see him start to sort out his feelings in the last chapter with his pov, but I still wanted to show a progression of his feelings while she was away and how it was happening without her being there.**

**The other thing this chapter is for is showing some of what he is doing to grow while Hinata is away. You are getting to see her evolve so I figured it was only fair you get peeks of what Naruto is doing to do the same. This chapter spans a year, which was hard to cover and still seem cohesive, but I tried to show things happening at different intervals to give you an idea of his progress.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Hinata: Sweetheart of the Allied Nations

Chapter Seven: Konoha - Months Seven through Eighteen

Naruto groaned and threw his arm over his face as he continued to try to ignore whoever was pounding on his door. He had just gotten back from Suna the evening before and had been looking forward to a long night and morning of rest. The trip had been good, but taxing both emotionally and physically.

With a little coaxing by him, and some help from Temari, Shikamaru had agreed to stay in Suna until they absolutely had to leave to make it back in time. Naruto had left the gift and note, but still hoped that Hinata might get back before they left so he could talk to her in person. Unfortunately, she had not returned and the Konoha nin had loitered so long that they had to push themselves hard in order to make it back to their village in time.

Even with his stamina, Naruto had been tired. Add to that the disappointment of not being able to talk to Hinata and hear her response and all he wanted was to spend the immediate future in bed. Therefore, when he was woken by some incessant knocking well before his body had planned on waking, the blond was perturbed.

Dragging himself out of bed and not bothering to put on anything other than the shorts he already had on - whoever was knocking didn't deserve the effort - he made his way to the door to see who was there.

When he yanked open the door, he narrowed his eyes at seeing a masked ANBU as the culprit. He couldn't exactly yell at someone who had most likely come on duty. Still, he didn't have to be polite.

"What?" he grumbled, catching a big yawn with his hand.

The ANBU, obviously rather new to the position as he shifted slightly in awkwardness at the gruff reception, said, "Lady Hokage wishes to see you in her office."

Naruto sighed. So much for going back to bed. "What time?"

"Her instructions said you were to come as soon as possible. She said she had something important to discuss with you and your sensei."

Naruto's eye twitched at the mention of Kakashi.

"You mean Kakashi-sensei is supposed to be there, too?"

The ANBU nodded.

The blond growled. There was no way he needed to be woken up for this! If Kakashi was involved then "as soon as possible" translated to a few hours from now. He could have woken up on his own and taken a leisurely stroll and still been there before his silver haired sensei.

He made to slam the door shut, but the ANBU thrust his hand out to stop it.

"I was also told to tell you that Hatake Kakashi is already present."

Now that made Naruto pause. It also piqued his curiosity. Kakashi was present at a meeting before him? That meant something was up. He nodded at the ANBU and abruptly closed the door without a goodbye. He was still annoyed at having been woken up, though now his mind was buzzing with possibilities.

Had a cool mission come up? Was it dangerous? Was there trouble? Or something interesting?

He threw on his usual outfit and paused only long enough to chug a glass of orange juice and lock the door before sprinting off to the Hokage Tower.

Naruto arrived just a few minutes later, entering uninvited through the window much to the annoyance of Tsunade and the amusement of Kakashi. She shot the Hatake a look that said, 'Just wait and see how you like it,' before turning her attention back to the blond who gave them both a wave.

"Please have a seat, Naruto," she said while gesturing to the chair in front of her desk. Kakashi stood up from the couch and meandered over to sit in the chair next to him while the Uzumaki couldn't help but become more curious.

"Alright, I think it's best to just get started," Tsunade said, as Kakashi nodded in agreement.

"Naruto, we called you in today to inform you of some changes that are going to be taking place."

He didn't miss the emphasis on the word 'we' and it made him even more curious. What did his sensei and the Hokage have in store for him?

"Kakashi is going to be made Hokage in a few months time."

The Uzumaki couldn't help the pang of disappointment that he felt at the news. He knew he was too young, too inexperienced in the world of politics to be the next Hokage, but it was still a bit disappointing.

The former sensei put his hand on Naruto's shoulder out of comfort and pride. If this had been the same little genin he had first met, then he would have been yelling and spouting that the job should be his. Instead, he accepted the idea with understanding, though Kakashi was sure he was a little disheartened. He smiled behind his mask, eager for Tsunade to tell Naruto the rest.

"I would love for you to be the one who took over after me for many reasons, but I'm not getting any younger."

Nawaki's face popped into her memory for a moment and she smiled sadly.

"Unfortunately, both myself and the council have decided it's time I step down from this. I'll be Kakashi's stand in for the first year or so whenever he has to leave the village. And I'll still be over the hospital for a while, at least until Sakura is ready to take over there. And since the pervert next to you is determined for me to be one of his council, I'll still be around. I just won't be in charge of all this."

She swept her arm to the side, gesturing towards all the paperwork piled and scattered on her desk and looked a little triumphant.

Naruto looked at the papers and then glanced at his laid back sensei, having a hard time imagining him agreeing to take on such tedious work. Hell, even when he fought sometimes he had his head in an Icha Icha book. Was this really such a good idea?

Naruto was also a little confused. Why were they telling him the news like this? There was sure to be some kind of announcement, or he could have a meeting with their old team if that was who Kakashi wanted to notify. So why just him?

"The council seat wasn't the only thing your sensei was stubborn about," she started again. "He refused to take the position unless everyone agreed to let him train you to take the job after him."

Naruto's eyes went wide and he turned back to his sensei who was obviously smiling behind his mask. He spoke for the first time since the meeting began.

"Now, don't go thinking this guarantees you the Hokage title. There is a lot for you to learn and there will still have to be a vote before you are officially named the next in line, but as soon as I take the mantle you will be in training for the position."

Naruto didn't know what to say. Kakashi had been offered the job as Hokage and had risked the position to get them to agree to make him the unofficial next in line. He felt tears prick the back of his eyes and was beyond touched.

"Thank you," he said, voice rough with emotion.

The silver haired jonin reached out and ruffled his hair affectionately as if he was congratulating a child for doing a good job, not congratulating a young man who was now so close to attaining his lifelong dream. Naruto closed his eyes, relishing the feeling, the affection, instead of acting annoyed as he usually would.

Tsunade was feeling a little choked up herself, but wasn't the most comfortable with emotional displays. Instead, she barked out, "Enough. That's not all there is to it."

The two males face her once again, the younger one taking a deep breath and setting his determined gaze on the woman who was practically family. She gave him a small, affectionate smile before putting on her Hokage demeanor and continuing their discussion.

"Now as he said, this does not guarantee you the position, but it gives you damn near everything else you need to be voted into it.

"Basically, there will be a kind of learning period before Kakashi takes over, then a probationary period, followed by the actual vote. You will first need a solid introduction to the art of politics. Diplomacy, manners, history, subtlety - those things aren't exactly your forte. Then again, you've not had a life where training in those areas has been either provided or necessary. You've gotten as far as you have on talent and determination alone and for that we are very proud of you.

"Being a Kage, however, is a whole different game than being a good shinobi. While I don't expect you to be anyone other than who you are, we need you to learn about these subjects."

Naruto nodded. He'd mentioned something similar when trying to convince Tsunade to allow him to go to Suna. Books and manners weren't exactly his favorite things, but he'd do whatever it took to become Hokage.

"I'm glad you agree," the Godaime said, and Naruto suddenly felt chills run down his back as she rested her chin on folded hands and gave him a calculating smile. "I've set up some introductory lessons for you with someone who has _very_ graciously agreed to help you. This person is one of the most influential in the village because of their connections and they were not obligated to take this on. However, they have taken an interest in you, especially after we told them about this arrangement, and decided to help."

Well that was nice. It sounded like she was giving him good news, but he couldn't help but feel wary. Kakashi was eye smiling like he used to when they were genin and he was about to give them a mission they would hate.

"You start your lessons tomorrow afternoon." She handed him a scroll and continued, "All the details are in there, as well as the order from myself that will get you in past the gate."

Naruto furrowed his brow and opened the scroll, curious as to where he would need such a thing. He scanned for the time, but froze as soon as he got to the name of the person who would be teaching him:

_Hyuga Hiashi_

This had the potential of being either very helpful or very bad.

* * *

Naruto set off down the street, mind still reeling at the news that he would be an honest to god candidate for the next Hokage. Not only that, but he was practically on a guaranteed course that would take him there.

He had always dreamed of being the Hokage. From a young age he both looked up to the shinobi who watched over the village and envied their popularity. He had thought that if he could just get strong enough, prove himself enough, that he could become Hokage and everyone would acknowledge him. As a child, the village had shunned him and in his naivety, he thought being the Hokage would guarantee the opposite. All he had to do was become the Hokage and suddenly everyone would accept him.

As he had gotten older he had discovered the flaw in his plan. It wasn't necessarily that the position guaranteed everyone's respect and devotion, but that he would need to be accepted before he could even gain the position. And now he finally had that. It was hard to wrap his mind around it most days.

Instead of parents warning their kids to stay away from him, they encouraged their children to look up to him. Instead of the village troublemaker he was hailed as the village hero. Instead of being overcharged for damaged goods, shopkeepers would sometimes just hand him stuff for free.

It was amazing and yet, it all felt a little off. It's not that he thought they were faking it. On the contrary, the people who would compliment him or give him gifts were almost always sincere. It was just that he'd wanted his whole life to prove himself to everyone, but now that he finally had he felt a little bitter about the fact that he'd had to go so far just for people to acknowledge him. He couldn't help but wonder whether they would still think so highly of him if he hadn't accomplished all that he had.

Thinking about all this, Naruto couldn't help but remember a pair of pearlescent eyes that never seemed to look at him with judgement or condemnation like most others. He remembered Hinata offering to let him cheat off her exam, even though it could mean getting herself and her teammates kicked out of the exam. Knowing what he knew now about her childhood, and the harsh censure she would have received from her family had she failed out of the written exam (and especially if she was ejected for allowing _him_ to cheat off of her), he was even more touched.

He remembered her offering him ointment that she handmade, to heal wounds he received while fighting a teammate she cared deeply for. She had been so shy, she couldn't even bring herself to explain. Her sensei had had to tell him to take it and let him know what it was. Hinata had always been there, but her presence and support had been so quiet, so subtle he hadn't been able to recognize it or the true meaning behind it until much later.

Now, however, he knew what it meant. He knew what he meant to her and he knew that his feelings for her were slowly morphing into something new, something he had not quite experienced before.

As a pubescent boy, Sakura had been bright and pretty, and although her attitude towards him was usually negative, he just took it as a challenge. She was just one more person to prove himself to. Later, they'd grown closer as teammates and Team Seven had become his surrogate family. He may not have loved her in the way he had thought, but he did love her. Especially now that she had made an effort to become his friend outside of their team.

Hinata, however, was something else entirely. He had talked to her teammates at length, asking them about her, listening to their stories and soaking up anything they would agree to divulge without feeling like they were betraying her confidence. The more he heard about her, heard about her childhood, how she had longed to be accepted and regarded as anything other than a failure or burden, he started to find himself connecting with her. It was strange, since she wasn't even in the village, but it was the truth.

With so much going on in his head, he decided to go visit the graves of his parents and Jiraiya. He would often go talk to them when he needed to get some things off his chest. Besides, he thought with a smile, they would be so proud when he told them what had happened earlier that day!

His destination now set, he made a detour to the Yamanaka Flower shop for something nice to place on their graves.

When Naruto entered the shop, he was surprised to see Ino at the counter. She had been training and working in the T&amp;I Headquarters more often than not lately. Whenever he came to buy flowers, it was usually either her mother or one of her younger cousins working the counter. The ding of the bell above the door alerted her to a customer and she looked up. As soon as their eyes met, the atmosphere became a bit awkward.

They hadn't really spoken one on one since he found out she had kept the news of Hinata's departure a secret from him. He had been extremely upset when he had discovered that Hinata would be gone for two years. When he had discovered that someone he considered a friend had kept something that important from him, he had been both angry and hurt. They had seen each other at a couple of group get-togethers since it happened, but hadn't had a real conversation.

Naruto remained quiet as he made his way toward the lilies, carefully choosing from the flowers until he found a few that he liked. He made his way up to the counter to make his purchase and Ino took the flowers from him, acting a bit nervous.

"Do you want these wrapped?" she asked. He shook his head. They would be going on gravestones, not mantles, so there was really no need. She wrapped a wet paper towel around the bottoms of the stems anyway, to help keep them fresh on his walk and handed them over, telling him there was no charge. He raised an eyebrow, but thanked her and turned to leave.

As he was about to reach the door he heard her yell after him, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Naruto stopped, debating whether he wanted to talk about it right then. He already had a lot on his mind, but he was kind of tired of the tension between them. Besides, he was never one to hold a grudge for long.

He turned around and walked back to the counter, giving her a look that said he was still sore about it, but willing to listen.

"I am. I'm really sorry. When Kiba told me how you took it - and then Sakura told me how he hit you over everything, I just… I'm sorry. When Hanabi came to talk to me I thought it wouldn't be so bad. She made it sound so harmless!

"Well, that and I was kind of in protective mode over Hinata. It's just that we all knew how much she cared about you and then to watch her every time you were near and didn't say anything, or anytime you asked out Sakura, or anytime you were swarmed by your new groupies…"

She paused, feeling like she sounded like she was just giving him excuses.

"Look, I'm not trying to excuse what I did. I know it hurt you and I do feel bad about it, but I want you to know where I'm coming from because Hinata is important to me and it hurt me to see her like that."

"I know, Ino," Naruto said, and she could see that knowing what he did to Hinata made him feel bad, too. "I know that you guys are close and I know you were just doing what you thought you should for a friend."

He flashed a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and told her they were okay, but Ino spoke up once more before he could leave.

"No! I, uh - Did you know that Hinata helped out in the shop for a couple of months after the war?"

The Uzumaki shook his head and waited for her to continue. He could tell that whatever this was about was important to her.

"She, um, she comes in a lot to buy flowers. And with dad gone, I had started working a lot more at T&amp;I so my mom was covering more of the shifts. I tried to convince her to get one of my cousins or someone else to help out, but she said that keeping busy would be good for her.

"Apparently one day Hinata came in to get something and found my mom on the floor crying next to the roses. My dad used to leave roses all over the house, in random places where he knew she would find them. Our family all knows the language of flowers so he would leave them like notes, just to let her know he loved her.

"So she found my mom, collapsed and crying, and took her to the back room and made her some tea. She sat and listened to my mom, let her cry on her, held her hand, and then told my mom to leave the shop to her for the rest of the afternoon. My mom tried to say no, but Hinata can be stubborn sometimes.

"After that, she started coming by whenever she wasn't on a mission and helping out in the shop. At first she would just come in and pretend to browse before offering to sweep and whatnot, and soon it got to where she would offer to watch over the shop while my mom ran errands or close up.

"Finally, my mom trained a couple of my cousins to work in the shop and took some actual time off, but I'll forever be grateful to Hinata for what she did. She was dealing with her own loss and here she was bending over backwards to help my mother with hers. _I_ should have been there, _I_ should have been the one helping my mom, but Hinata's like that, she just gives and gives. She's always taking care of everybody and never asking for anything in return.

"So, I kind of went along with Hanabi because I figured it was my turn to do something for her. But I didn't go about it the right way. In fact, she'd asked us specifically not to do anything so really it's even worse."

Ino finally trailed off, sounding remorseful. She had wanted him to understand how important Hinata was to her, how much she had done for her and her family.

When she finally looked up, she saw Naruto looking pensive. His eyes were focused on nothing in particular and she waited for him to say something, suddenly struck by how much taller and older he looked. When had that happened? After a couple of minutes he looked down at her and said sincerely, "Thanks Ino, I really appreciate you telling me that story."

The kunoichi opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, unsure how to respond. Really, she should thank him for listening to her ramble about her family problems and how Hinata had helped her. Before she could think of anything to say, Naruto spoke again.

"Do you think it would be okay if I took another lily? I think I've got one other stop I need to make."

She nodded her head, wrapping the bottom of the new flower he retrieved with a paper towel and handing it to him. She wanted to know if things were really okay between them again, but found herself uncharacteristically unable to voice her question.

Naruto took the flower, adding it to the others in his hand and paused before turning to leave, saying, "Thanks again for telling me that story, Ino. And I don't hold what you did against you. I'm glad Hinata has a friend like you to look out for her. But just so you know, you can leave taking care of Hinata to me from now on. I'm going to make all of this up to her and more. Believe it!"

Her eyes widened, taken aback by Naruto's declaration. His old catchphrase assured her that he was still the same Naruto she had always known, but she couldn't help but think that something about him was very different. Things would certainly be interesting when Hinata came back.

* * *

Naruto had been meeting with Hiashi for months now, and things were going much better than he had expected. They would meet once a week, as long as their busy schedules permitted, and Naruto had been pleasantly surprised at the way Hiashi would change up the lessons.

Sometimes Naruto would be assigned a few chapters from a book and would have to discuss it with the Hyuga Head. Other times Hiashi would lecture him on Konoha's political history. Naruto's favorite kind of lesson was the one where Hiashi would give him a political scenario and the Uzumaki would have to give him a plan of action, as well as his reasoning behind said plan. Hiashi would then critique his plan, weighing other options and the benefits and risks of each.

The man was tough, and he was not like any teacher he had had before. Jiraiya and Kakashi had mostly sat back and given him the bare minimum to guide him through teaching himself. For the hands on work he did with them, that had worked very well. Hiashi was much stricter, similar to Iruka, except he didn't offer any nice words of encouragement when he screwed something up. Instead, if Naruto made a bad call on one of his scenarios - which still happened more often than not, but he was getting better - Hiashi would put on a stern face and tell him exactly how badly it would go and how many lives would be lost. It was a hard way to learn and it put him on edge.

He couldn't deny the results, though. He found himself thinking more before speaking and if he wasn't sure how to phrase something he would mull it over lest he give someone the wrong impression. These were habits he'd never formed and no one had really bothered to try to teach him. Although Hiashi was harsh, Naruto appreciated that the older man's disappointment stemmed from the fact that he believed he should have been able to accomplish something when he failed.

In the past, others had always excused him from certain things or just assumed he wouldn't be able to understand something. While the material he was learning from Hiashi was not his strong point, he was glad that he was being treated as if he were perfectly capable. It was hard, and he did get discouraged, but he soldiered on as he always had before, determined not to fail when he was so damn close to his goal.

It didn't hurt that he wanted to impress the Hyuga Head, either.

The first day he had come to meet the man he had been a bundle of nerves. Stepping into the Hyuga compound had been an odd experience. It seemed that Hyugas were naturally unnerving, and they all looked similar with their dark hair, white eyes, and stern faces. With his blonde hair and bright blue eyes, he stuck out like a sore thumb, making him the recipient of a multitude of pupil less stares.

As his meetings with Hiashi had continued, he had quickly discovered that the Hyuga were not the stoic copies they all seemed to be. They were still intimidating; they were, after all, bred and raised to be elite shinobi. However, as they grew accustomed to seeing him in their home, they grew a little more relaxed around him. He would occasionally see some gossiping, others joking around, children chasing one another when not practising their Jyuken, and suddenly the compound seemed less like a foreign land in the midst of Konoha and more like a family.

Naruto was jerked out of his thoughts by Hiashi's arrival. He had been sitting in his study waiting for the man for almost a half hour, which was rather strange. Hiashi touted punctuality and was almost always on time. As the head of the clan, Naruto understood if he was occasionally a few minutes late, but even then the Hyuga would usually send someone to inform him and offer him a cup of tea for the wait.

The blond had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't realized how much time had passed, or the fact that he hadn't been interrupted to make him aware Hiashi would be late, until the man himself arrived and he looked at the clock. Curious, Naruto took in the older man's appearance. He would hardly have noticed the taught jaw or the fact he was walking more stiffly than usual had he not been looking closely. The Hyuga prided themselves on being unreadable and Naruto knew that something had to have happened to cause the man to be letting even this much show.

He bowed respectfully, and Hiashi bowed in return, apologizing for his tardiness. Naruto waved it off with a smile, genuinely untroubled by it aside from the fact he was a little concerned about what could have caused Hiashi's demeanor.

The Hyuga sat himself behind his desk and took a stack of papers out of one of his drawers. Naruto hadn't been assigned any reading the week before so he knew the man wasn't waiting on any kind of summary. He sat there, restraining himself from fidgeting - Hiashi was always quick to scold him for fidgeting and it always made him feel like a child - and waited for the older man to let him know what they would be doing.

Hiashi was quiet for a few minutes, just staring at the stack of papers on his desk and occasionally glancing at a picture of himself, Hinata, Hanabi, and Neji. Naruto knew what the picture was because he had daringly snuck a peak one day when Hiashi had been called into the hallway for some reason or another. There was only one other picture on the desk, a wedding photo of Hiashi and his wife, and Naruto sometimes wondered whether he would one day have family pictures decorating his own desk in the Hokage's office.

Finally, the Hyuga broke the silence.

"I've not always been a good father," he said, pale eyes lingering on the photo of his children and nephew.

Naruto was taken aback. No matter how curious he had been at first to spend time with Hinata's father, Hiashi had always kept things strictly business. He had not once spoken of his family.

"Hinata has always been kind. Too kind, really. This world is a harsh one and this clan is not a particularly warm environment. I wanted to prepare her, shape her into someone who would survive what she'd been born into."

He trailed off for a moment, and Naruto sat waiting, not daring to interrupt him.

"My own brother was killed in my stead to keep us from going to war. My brother died in order to appease people over the death of someone who tried to kidnap my daughter. _That_ is the world of politics."

Hiashi's mouth curled into a moue of distaste, and the Uzumaki was struck by the statement. This was the kind of stuff he was learning, this was why it was so important.

"I was too hard on Hinata. I wanted her to be stronger than she was, more talented than she was, something more than I thought she was. In some strange twist of fate, however, she turned out to be so adept at what I once thought her hopeless at that she is now on a two year diplomatic mission, handpicked by the Hokage herself.

"My firstborn, the one who had to win her title back from her younger sister, is now stronger and more capable than I ever thought possible. It's shameful, but I'm glad it's true."

Naruto hadn't thought about that. He knew that Hinata had been shunned by her clan as a child. He knew she had worked hard and he knew she was strong, but it was indeed ironic that this twisted, cutthroat world of politics was something she thrived in.

"And Neji -"

Hiashi had kept his composure the entire time, hardly expressing anything aside from through his words, but at the mention of his deceased nephew his voice finally broke and it took him a few seconds to maintain his calm.

"I was too blind when Neji was younger to notice how deeply his hatred was rooted in him. I was too grieved at the loss of my brother to pay his son proper attention and too bitter at his prowess when my own daughter seemed so weak. I failed him, I failed my brother, and I failed Hinata."

At this point the older man fixed the younger with a hard stare, the scrutiny enough to make the usually bold younger man gulp in nervousness.

"You were the one who set my nephew on the path of healing. When the elders were busy admonishing Hinata for losing to a branch member, you vowed to avenge her. You were the one who inspired her to change herself, to grow stronger even when none of us believed in her. You are a large part of why she was able to reach and surpass her potential and I owe you a lot. It's a large part of the reason I agreed to these meetings when Tsunade-sama first brought them up."

Naruto didn't know what to say. Hiashi had just revealed a lot to him; it was extremely personal and a complete change from anything they had discussed before.

Instead of waiting for him to respond, Hiashi picked up the stack of papers he had pulled from his drawer and set them down in front of the younger man, gesturing for him to look through them. The blond complied, picking up a few and scanning down before frowning slightly and moving onto the next. His frown only increased as he continued looking through the letters and finally he looked up, saying, "What is all this?"

It's not that he didn't know what it was, but he didn't like it one bit. He needed Hiashi to confirm his fears and it seemed Hiashi understood.

"These are letters proposing a marriage to my daughter. We've always had a few coming in here and there - the Hyuga are a well-known and influential clan, after all. However, it seems Hinata is making quite the impression on people during her travels. She has been meeting with various clans and influential people both on behalf of Konoha and the Hyuga. Apparently some are quite taken with her. We've had letters coming in since the start of her trip and I do not expect they will be stopping anytime soon."

Naruto continued to flip through the stack, and he found they were indeed all the same. Letters from fathers, clan elders, young men themselves, all asking to be considered for Hinata's hand. He had known that she would be meeting people, making connections on her trip, but finding out that some of these people were interested in marrying her, taking her _away_, made his gut clench.

"Hyuga-sama," he began, the title still feeling strange on his tongue. He would always be more inclined to call him "Old Man" or something like, but one of his first lessons had been about addressing people correctly and he had no desire to make Hinata's father angry with him.

"Why are you showing me this?"

Was this another one of his lessons? Or something more?

"I had a meeting with the elders today. That's why I was so late."

Naruto nodded, now knowing the reason for his tardiness as well as his body language when he had first arrived.

"They are getting a little too eager regarding these potential suitors. Not all are from clans, but some of her prospects are quite wealthy or have quite a bit of influence in places the Hyuga do not yet have any. They can't outright arrange a marriage for her - that right belongs only to myself and her - but they can pressure her in various ways."

The Uzumaki felt himself getting angry. Who did these men think they were?

"Now, Hinata has smartly told anyone requesting any kind of marriage proposal or negotiation that she will not be considering suitors or marriage for a couple of years after her return. Her reasoning is that this mission means that she will be busy with political affairs upon her return and she wants to serve her village properly in this capacity before looking to settle down, especially since many of these proposals would mean she had to move away."

Well, that would keep them at bay, but for how long? And was this something she was truly considering? Would she really agree to marry one of these guys? A political marriage seemed so impersonal, so insincere. She couldn't actually want that, would she? Then again, it's not like all the people sending letters were old men. Most of the proposed suitors were within five years of her age. What if she actually enjoyed their company? What if she got along with one of them and actually started to fall for him? What if she married and left Konoha?

Naruto was having a hard time controlling his breathing and was doing everything he could not to visibly panic in front of Hiashi. The older man studied his reaction, apparently finding in it an answer he had been looking for.

"So, you _are_ interested in my daughter?"

Wide blue eyes looked up, finding the Hyuga looking almost… amused? That couldn't be right.

"I had assumed from her demeanor whenever you were mentioned and your lack of action on the matter, that you were not interested. However, I heard some interesting rumors regarding your sudden accompaniment of the young Nara to Suna. It made me think that perhaps there was something there."

Naruto was not one to blush, but he couldn't help himself after a statement like that. He scratched at the back of his head and said, "I, uh - "

"I want Hinata to be happy," Hiashi said, interrupting whatever he might have been saying. "I have not always been a good father, but I've tried to change that. Above all, I just want her to be happy. She may have agreed to consider these people," he gestured at the stack as he spoke, "but the strength and inspiration she has gained from watching you, from admiring you speaks for itself, I think. I was told that she confessed when she jumped into your battle with Pein. She's so much like her mother that way."

Hiashi looked lovingly at the picture of his wife and Naruto realized at that point that although Hinata's parents had been betrothed and their marriage arranged by others, there had indeed been much love between them. The admission made the young man curious as to what kind of story was behind it.

"Therefore, I'd wanted to gage your reaction to this… situation. My daughter's feelings for you had been perfectly clear to me, but I was until now unsure of yours for her. If you truly care for her and if this is something you genuinely want to pursue, you have my support. You'll be doing all the work with her, of course. I expect my daughter to be properly wooed."

At this, Naruto began to sweat a bit.

"You will have some opposition within the clan. Many see my daughter as a threat to the traditions of the Hyuga, and a marriage to someone likely to be the future Hokage would just give her all the more influence to accomplish what she wants to. That's where my support should make a difference. I'm not all-powerful, and there will be struggles, but I'll do what I can."

The Uzumaki looked down at his hands, hands that had once been pinned to the ground as he fought desperately against the man who had singlehandedly destroyed his beloved village. Hands that had once reached towards Obito, considering his offer at the despair of losing yet another loved one. Both times Hinata had saved him. Both times Hinata had inspired him and helped him go on to win. Her father spoke of the strength he had given her, but he knew nothing of what she had given him. This meeting, this conversation had put into perspective just how difficult this might be. He had already known it might be difficult to convince her to be in a relationship, but now there were even more factors to consider. However, he was never one to back down from a challenge. He thought of his nindo, _their_ nindo, and his eyes gleamed with resolve.

"I never back down," he said to Hiashi and the older man was struck by the ferocity in his gaze and voice. This young man was the one who had beaten Kaguya, this man in front of him was the one they called the savior of the shinobi world. That his energy and resolve would now be partially directed toward courting his daughter made him reconsider for a moment if what he had done was truly a good idea.

When he considered how happy she would be at the end of all this, however, all doubt went away.

"I hear the upcoming Chunin exams will be held in Iwa?"

Naruto nodded in confirmation.

"And I expect you will be accompanying the Nara heir again on this journey?"

"Yessir," the blond responded.

"I see. In that case I suppose it wouldn't hurt to give you a little help. Hinata has a particular kind of tea that she loves. She doesn't tell anyone about it because it's quite expensive and she gets uncomfortable when she thinks people have done too much for her. I think if you gave her some of that, it would be a big surprise. It would certainly leave an impression."

The blond mulled it over for a second before smiling brightly at the man across from him, "Thanks! If you wouldn't mind writing it down, I don't want to get the wrong stuff."

Hiashi nodded, pulling out a notepad and writing the brand and blend of tea down to hand to the young man. Hopefully Hinata would see this gesture for what it was. He could tell that Naruto was sincere and wanted to let her know he was supportive.

* * *

Naruto skipped up the steps to the aviary, brimming with excitement because he knew today was the day one of Hinata's reports was due. After a morning of Kakashi "training" him - which really meant giving him paperwork to sort - Naruto had finally gotten too antsy to wait any longer and told his sensei he was going to pick up the report himself before disappearing out the window.

Kakashi just shrugged and pulled out one of his Icha Icha books, figuring he would just blame any lack of productivity on his student. It probably wouldn't work, but what was his assistant going to do? He was the Hokage.

While Kakashi sat in his office, giggling like a schoolgirl over Jiraiya's particular way with debauchery, Naruto was making his way over to the handlers of the shinobi messenger hawks. When he reached them, he asked if they had anything for the Hokage. One rolled his eyes while Naruto wasn't looking, knowing the reason he was there. The blonde had been coming the same day of each month under the guise of picking up the Hokage's mail.

The first time he had come, the man had tried to keep the mail from him. Proper protocol required certain handoffs and signatures. However, Lady Tsunade and the current Hokage seemed to have a soft spot for the blond and, unfortunately, his subordinate was one of his more ardent admirers.

She pointed the Uzumaki in the direction of the messenger hawk that had come in from Kiri, who had yet to be relieved of its burden as there were a few others that had arrived first that needed to be documented.

Naruto eagerly took the small scroll from around the hawk's leg and unrolled it, unsealing a few letters. It seems Hinata had sent some personal mail along with her report. He flipped through the envelopes, ignoring the protests of the large man in charge of this area, hoping that maybe this would be the time he received a letter. Instead he saw one to Kurenai, one to TenTen, and one to her sister.

He paused, however, when he reached the last letter. It was addressed to Sasuke.

The blond furrowed his brows. He didn't know they were in contact. His paranoia about her and other men had been on hyperdrive since Hiashi had shown him those letters and this letter in front of him reminded him about what he had seen that day he had found Hinata speaking to Neji's grave.

With everything that had happened after, the incident had slipped his mind and he hadn't ever addressed it with his teammate. Now that he saw the letter, though, he started to get suspicious.

Making up his mind, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's letter instead of the report and made yet another hasty exit, with even more protests from the uptight mail guy. The Uzumaki shrugged it off, focusing on the task at hand.

He made it across town to the partially rebuilt Uchiha complex in record time. The district was so far on the edge of town that it hadn't been entirely demolished by Pein's attack, but had enough damage from that and years of neglect to need a lot of work.

Yamato had agreed to make Sasuke a temporary home right by the house Sasuke used to live in with his parents and brother. The Uchiha had wanted to do the rest by himself, considering it a more literal part of rebuilding his clan. His teammates had understood. After all, this was incredibly personal, and so when not on various missions, he could usually be found training or working in the Uchiha district.

And that's where Naruto came across Sasuke, and surprisingly Sakura, painting one of the new homes Sasuke had constructed. Seeing Sakura helping threw him off a bit, things were still a little tense between the pinkette and the Uchiha, with loads of old feelings and actions from the past that couldn't be ignored, but he was glad to see them working together. However, he had something to discuss with Sasuke.

He hopped down, and stormed over to the Uchiha waving the letter and yelled, "Teme! Why is Hinata writing to you?"

Sasuke stopped what he was doing and raised an eyebrow at his teammate.

"Is she not allowed to write me?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes. Why did Sasuke always have to make their conversations so difficult?

"No, I just want to know why. Is there something going on between you? Because it's not cool for you to keep something like that from me!"

When Sakura heard that, she stopped what she was doing as well, looking curiously at her teammates.

"What the hell are you even talking about? I've spent almost no time with her."

"Exactly! So that makes her sending you a letter suspicious!"

"Suspicious?" Sasuke said with a raised brow. "Are you jealous?"

Naruto's eyes widened and he sputtered, not sure how to respond to that. He didn't want to admit that he was jealous, not in front of his now very eager looking teammates. He suddenly remembered that this was exactly the kind of situation his training had been trying to keep him from getting into. Unfortunately, it was hard not to act before thinking when it came to Hinata.

Damn all those stupid suitors making him paranoid.

"I was just curious! And that one day after you got back I saw you invite her back here to look at your plants or something, I don't remember exactly, but you didn't know her much back then and you took her back here even though you hate bringing people here."

Sasuke sighed and rolled his eyes. Naruto was in deep with Hinata and he didn't even realize how much.

"Fine. You caught me. She helped me re-plant my tomatoes and we suddenly fell in love and began a passionate long distance love affair."

Sarcasm was practically dripping from the Uchiha's statement and Naruto huffed indignantly. Why was he even friends with this guy?

"Look, if you're so determined just open the stupid thing and read it."

Blue eyes slid from the letter in his hand, to his teammate, then back down to the letter. He _did_ just get permission.

He ripped the letter open and began reading through it, oblivious to the shared look between Sakura and Sasuke.

Hmm, first Hinata was asking how rebuilding was going. Apparently she'd come across a glass artisan and offered to purchase a sculpture for the finished district as a gesture from the Hyuga clan.

She talked a bit about working with Suigetsu, referencing something Sasuke must have told her in a previous letter about the crazy swordsman.

Then she mentioned that she was considering a new uniform and asked his opinion on sleeve length - the pros and cons of having sleeves that covered her hands and hiding places for senbon.

Naruto blinked at that. He had never imagined her learning to use any weapons other than the standard kunai and shuriken, but now that he thought about it, they could really be deadly in the hands of a Hyuga. He smiled at the thought of how much stronger she was getting. He was really proud of her.

Finally she talked about some kind of fruit/vegetable hybrid that reminded her of a tomato that she thought he might like and wondered if he'd come across it before in his travels.

Well, that didn't seem romantic at all. He was feeling pretty sheepish that he had gotten so worked up over nothing. He really thought he'd been getting better about that, but he had to admit that not being able to see Hinata in Iwa had yet again caused him some trepidation regarding any lingering feelings she might or might not have for him. Did she really just happen to be on those missions when he came to visit or was she avoiding him on purpose? He really hoped it wasn't the latter.

He sighed and handed the letter over to Sasuke who, for once, refrained from giving Naruto a hard time. The Uchiha could tell by the look on Naruto's face that something was bothering him and although he had interrupted him while he was working and accused him of some random relationship, he still valued his friendship with the guy. Even if he was a dobe sometimes.

At that moment an ANBU appeared, telling Naruto that he was needed at the Hokage's office.

The Uzumaki looked a little annoyed at that, preferring to stay and spend time with his teammates because he was positive Kakashi had been slacking off in his absence. Instead, he waved to Sasuke and Sakura before body flickering with the ANBU back to the tower, the promise of reading Hinata's report the only thing convincing him that the stack of papers awaiting him would be worth it.

Maybe he could convince Sakura to teach Kakashi's assistant her strength technique so she could knock some work ethic into the silver haired man.

* * *

Tsunade was worried, much more worried than she was letting on. Honestly, she had tried to keep Naruto from reading the report, but the blond was so damn persistent.

She supposed it had been a lost cause to begin with. Naruto didn't say so, but Tsunade knew how much he enjoyed reading Hinata's monthly reports. He had been even more insistent about them ever since he had returned from Iwa, knowing that the chunin exams weren't taking place in the next villages Hinata was set to visit during the time she would be there. Iwa had been his last known opportunity to see her while she was away and she managed to evade it.

Still, when the Hokage had read the report and discovered the reason this particular one was late, she had been trepidatious of the Uzumaki's reaction. And so she sat with hazel eyes trained on the young man who had sat down to read.

Naruto sat on the couch, eager to see what Hinata had been up to. Her reports were really the only communication he had with her while she was away. He loved her reports because when he read them it was as if he could hear her. The more he learned about her, the more he wanted to hear. He would sometimes read her reports multiple times when he found himself having a hard time waiting for her to return. She would always leave a short, personal note for Tsunade or a picture and he loved seeing those the most.

She was an impressive shinobi, with thorough and informative reports. However, she was still Hinata and he was glad that her time away had not changed her personality entirely. The more he was learning about politics, the more he realized how smarmy some of these diplomats could be. In fact, the men who had kidnapped Hinata when she was a child had been posing as diplomats. The heiress's personal notes reassured them that she was still the same kind, sincere person she had been.

Something else he had learned was that she was punctual. Her reports always arrived on the same day of each month. He looked forward to those days and when it hadn't arrived on time this month, he had been disappointed. When it had not arrived a couple of days after that, he had begun to worry. By the time the report finally reached Konoha, a week after the usual time, Tsunade had hardly been able to keep him from going to Kiri to make sure she was okay.

Now that her report was in front of him, he was practically shaking with anticipation. He had been so afraid when they hadn't received anything and he couldn't shake the feeling that he had been correct in assuming something bad had happened. Tsunade's reaction when reading and her hesitance to let him read for himself just confirmed his suspicion. He took a deep breath and began.

Meanwhile, the Godaime Hokage sat at her desk, absentmindedly running her fingers across the hidden compartment where she kept a sake bottle for emergencies. She was pretty sure Kakashi hadn't found it yet and she had a feeling she might need a drink after this.

First, she noticed his posture become rigid. She had to hand it to him, if this had been the same Naruto from before the war he would have already leapt out of his seat and demanded to leave for Kiri. It was a testament to his growth that he hadn't already thrown the papers down. She knew how antsy he could become when one of his precious people were hurt. And it seemed that Hinata was becoming ever more precious to him as the days passed.

Tsunade's attention was drawn from his now white knuckles as some of Naruto's killing intent started to pervade her office. It started out subtly, something easily manageable for someone of her years and skill, but the amount and the potency only increased as he continued reading. Soon, it was enough to make her shudder, the Kyubi's chakra only adding to the effect.

By the time he had reached the end of the letter she had had to activate a seal letting her ANBU know that she was in no danger and that they need not interfere. Despite this, she still found herself impressed with how much he was holding back. His training had certainly been paying off.

She hadn't even been able to track his movements as he abruptly appeared in front of her desk, the lines on his cheeks noticeably thicker and his eyes a stormy blue, occasionally flickering to red. He was in control, yes, but he had his mother's temper and the influence of a tailed beast so she knew she would have to tread carefully during this next conversation.

"I'm going," was all he said, and she honestly didn't need him to elaborate.

Tsunade shook her head, her contrite expression the only thing stopping him from screaming his frustration at her. He could tell that she didn't like it either.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," she said. It was obvious she meant it. "But you can't go."

"Why?" he growled out, and the Hokage narrowed her eyes slightly at him.

"You know why. You read her letter. She is doing better, her wounds are healed, and the Mizukage herself is monitoring her state. Do you want to send the message to one of our allies that you think their Kage is incapable?"

Naruto gritted his teeth. He did know why he couldn't go, but that didn't stop every fiber of his being from wanting to be able to teleport there and see for himself that she was okay. He wanted to look at her, touch her, talk to her, know for himself that she was okay, that that bastard hadn't finished what he had started.

He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down.

"Please," he choked out. Tsunade felt herself tearing up slightly. It was obvious this boy - no, man - was doing everything he could to control himself, but he was extremely worried for Hinata. And she couldn't blame him, this was a very traumatizing event.

"I wish I could let you, I really do," she said as she reached across her desk to place her hand on top of his.

"Here's what I can do: I will keep my eyes open for any excuse for you to get there, anything at all. I will also reach out to Mei for the notes the doctors and psychologists are keeping on her. I can't let you read those for obvious reasons, but as her former Kage and a doctor I am allowed to look at them. That way you will know that I am also keeping an eye on her from here."

Naruto reluctantly nodded. He wasn't upset with Tsunade, in fact he appreciated the extra effort she was offering, but he was still upset with the situation.

"Isn't that Suigetsu also a former… colleague of Sasuke's?" she asked, making Naruto snap his head up in realization.

"I'm sure you could persuade Sasuke to talk to Suigetsu about what happened and about how she is doing."

The blond was finally able to smile, albeit a small one. Tsunade might have a temper and they might yell at one another, but it was times like these that he knew that she cared about him as much as he did about her.

Naruto thanked her and then turned to leave. He needed to let off some serious steam and sparring with Sasuke would definitely help. If he happened to get Sasuke to agree to talk to Suigetsu during or after said spar then all the better. After that, though, he was going to call in a favor of his own. He may not be able to see her while she was in Kiri or Kumo, but he sure as hell wasn't without any connections in those places. Once her stay in Kiri was over, he would make sure she was taken care of.

* * *

**So there you have it! Although Hinata is away, Naruto is still getting to know her better through her teammates and friends, as well as her reports. They have a very intense past and I thought that was a good base for feelings, but I think for them to grow he would need to learn more about her.**

**I also wanted you guys to get a glimpse of Hiashi and what kind of part he will be playing in all this. It actually took me a while to settle on what kind of role I wanted him to take on, but I am really happy with how this turned out. I tried to show how his teaching style has changed a bit since Hinata was younger - he's still harsh, but now instead of acting like someone is hopeless if they are having a hard time, he goes in with the belief that they are capable.**

**The scene with the aviary and Team 7 was actually originally going to be an omake. I was worried it was a bit too lighthearted for an otherwise pretty emotional chapter, but then it got a little long and I decided I wanted y'all to see that although Naruto is growing and changing, that he's still the same brash Naruto we know and love. Did it stick out too much or did it fit in alright?**

**Next up is Kumo and after that is Hinata's return when I'll finally get to write some NaruHina where they actually interact face to face! Yay! For all of you who are worried/think the story is going to end right after she gets home, it won't. There's a bad guy in this story and there are quite a few obstacles for our characters to overcome. It should be a lot of fun :-)**

**Anyway, please let me know what you think! I value your feedback and your comments always help keep me going when I have writer's block.**


	8. Kumo

**Author's Note: Long time no see, guys! I do apologize for the wait. My life has been a whirlwind and I won't go into the details, but I want you to know that I've genuinely been working on this in any spare minute. Sometimes I would open my writing app up while I was out and jot down three words at a time. Anyway, just want you guys to know I don't like to keep you waiting.**

**That being said, I can't even express how much your reviews and PMs mean to me. When you guys tell me how much you like the story or that you're eager to see more, it definitely makes my day and keeps me motivated enough to continue when things are crazy. So thank you for that.**

**One final thing before the chapter, I want to thank Petran for his idea. I won't let you know what it was until after the chapter because I don't want to spoil anything, but I _really_ like how it turned out.**

**Enjoy!**

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Hinata: Sweetheart of the Allied Nations

Chapter Eight: Kumo

Hinata paused as she crested the final peak, taking a moment to gaze at the sight in front of her. Kumogakure was a sprawling city, built in and around the mountains it was situated in, reminding the diplomat a little of Iwa. Unlike Iwa, however, clouds seemed to descend from the sky to obscure the city, creating a somewhat foreboding atmosphere.

The Hyuga had to fight a shudder at the thought. She wasn't sure if she felt like that because the village looked this way or because of her own personal history with it. Either way, she was thankful for her patient companion who was waiting without complaint until she was ready to continue their descent into the village proper.

Instead of the standard jonin or two to accompany her between villages, the Mizukage had sent Chojuro, one of her own personal guards and someone Hinata had come to know quite well during her stay in Kiri. Mei had said she was sending Chojuro because there was going to be a bit of a political get together upon Hinata's arrival, but the young woman knew it was mostly because of what happened towards the end of her stay in Water Country.

Even Suigetsu had offered to come, knowing Hinata's trepidation with Kumo, but was quickly denied by the Mizukage considering the last time he had been to Kumo he had attempted to kidnap the Raikage's brother for the Akatsuki. Raikage Ay was not a forgiving man by any stretch of the imagination and he would certainly not welcome the Hozuki with anything positive.

Hinata tried to breathe deeply in an attempt to quiet the growing anxiety twisting around in her stomach, but the thin air made it difficult. The Raikage was an intimidating man, both in stature and demeanor. He valued strength and respect above all, and she could truthfully say that she appreciated how dedicated he was to his village.

However, it was that same dedication that had caused him to perpetrate her kidnapping when she was only a few years old. It was that same desire for strength and that same pride that caused the Raikage to demand her father's dead body as recompense for his own dead ninja. This man had caused the loss of her uncle, the loss of her bond with Neji, and the loss of any sense of safety she had growing up. The sheer terror of almost being kidnapped to either have her eyes plucked out or bred, coupled with the stifling hatred of her cousin, had haunted much of her adolescence.

Things had changed. Their villages were allies. They had already fought side by side and were both eager to continue the peace that currently reigned between the Five Elemental Nations. The Raikage had sent her father his personal assurances that she would be safe. However, she still dreaded this last part of her journey and who could blame her? Who wouldn't be wary at spending six months living in the village ruled by the person who had orchestrated her kidnapping and killed her uncle?

She felt the calming presence of her companion as he stood as close as he could without touching her. Chojuro remained silent, allowing her her thoughts, but it was a gesture to let her know she wasn't alone. Hinata closed her eyes and allowed a small smile to come to her lips. She had grown stronger on this trip, strong enough to face her fears. And she had made so many new friends, established new bonds, she knew she wasn't alone. This wasn't just something she needed to do for herself, but something she needed to do for the good of Konoha, for all of the villages she had visited so far.

With that resolve she nodded to her companion and set off towards the entrance of the village.

In no time at all she stood inside the office of the Raikage, head held high before the large man in front of her. Even seated, Ay towered over her. The man was built like a rock and as he spoke she felt his gruff voice suited him perfectly.

"Welcome to Kumo," he addressed both shinobi in front of him, before focusing on Hinata.

"We have a special event prepared this evening to mark your arrival. If you will follow Mabui, she will take you to the kunoichi who will see to your preparations. They have also been assigned to keep an eye out for your safety during your stay so it would be good to familiarize yourself with them."

At this Chojuro spoke up, "Raikage-sama, with all due respect, Mizukage-sama sent me -"

"I was informed of your mission. You were her escort, but Hyuga-san has arrived. Now that she is in my village, her safety is my responsibility. Arrangements have been made so that you will not be far from her before leaving tomorrow, but unless you plan to help her dress for dinner then I suggest you allow her to go with Mabui."

Chojuro's cheeks flamed up and Hinata almost smiled at the fact that it wasn't her blushing for once. She gave her friend a nod and small smile to assure him she was fine and followed the woman with white hair and beautiful eyes out of the room.

Hinata followed Mabui down the hall and into an elevator. As she walked behind her she found herself thinking that while the older woman seemed nice enough, with a demeanor much calmer than the Raikage, Hinata had yet to see her smile. When she thought more about it, she realized that she hadn't seen any shinobi that she had passed since being in this city smile. Was there something happening that she wasn't aware of? Were the people in this village really so serious, or did the gloomy atmosphere affect their moods?

Once the elevator began moving, the diplomat was brought out of her thoughts when Mabui said, "We don't have far to go. Kumo does not often have visiting diplomats, or many visitors from outside the village for that matter. Because of this, they most often stay on the guest floor of the Raikage tower. It is the safest place in the village. Even the windows are opened and closed with seals instead of latches and only a select few know how to open them.

"The event tonight will be held in a banquet room on another floor of the tower. The kunoichi who have been charged with watching over you will escort you when it is time."

Once they reached the room, Hinata was actually relieved to see her escort turning a regular doorknob to open the door. She had half expected another high security measure. As if reading her thoughts, Mabui said without turning to her, "Whenever guests are staying here, we have a sensor keep watch over this floor at night to ensure there are no intruders from inside the tower."

She hadn't planned on any late night exploring, especially after her last excursion had ended so badly, but it seemed that was clearly not an option anyway. The heiress didn't want to cause an international incident and be mistaken for trying to infiltrate the building, but she loved nighttime and if she ever had trouble sleeping, a walk often helped.

The extra security was yet more of a reminder that as a diplomat she was both guest and hostage, honored yet watched carefully. This was a mission and security was never a bad thing on a mission, but should anything go wrong, should Kumo turn, she was trapped.

As they fully entered the room, Hinata saw two women around her age standing at attention. One was blonde, her short hair cut at an angle, with sharp icy blue eyes. The young woman at her left was a little shorter, with dark skin and fiery red hair. Her brow was furrowed into something like a scowl and her arms were crossed in front of her rigid body.

"This is Samui and Karui," Mabui stated, while gesturing to the blonde and redhead respectively.

Samui nodded minutely, and focused her icy gaze on the heiress. "Welcome to Kumo. We look forward to working with you and hope your stay will be productive."

Karui snorted quietly and muttered something that Hinata could barely make out, only hearing something like "babysitting." She quickly received a harsh look from Samui and shrugged, also nodding at Hinata in recognition.

Now that the introductions were over, Mabui silently left the room, and Hinata was left alone with the two Kumo kunoichi.

"It's nice to meet you both. I look forward to getting to know you," she said with a bow. When she stood back up Samui's expression was still blank and Karui was looking at her with something like suspicion.

"I've been told that something would be happening this evening. Would you mind explaining it to me?"

Karui continued to eye her suspiciously, so Samui was again the one who responded.

"The Raikage has organized a dinner to celebrate your arrival in Kumogakure. He feels this alliance has strengthened the status and resources of our village and would like to publicly introduce you. I believe he is also planning to issue a formal apology for the kidnapping attempt from your childhood."

If Hinata had been surprised by such a grand gesture regarding her arrival, she had certainly not been prepared for the final reason. No one had mentioned anything about it and she felt a little shellshocked. After hearing about the Raikage and now having met him in person, he did not seem the type to apologize. Not in the slightest. And the way the kunoichi had mentioned the kidnapping so casually, with such a matter of fact tone, threw her off balance.

"Oh," was all she could muster in response.

The blonde gestured to a door Hinata assumed led to the bathroom and said, "If you would like to go refresh yourself from your journey, your items should all be there. When you are finished we will be here to assist you in getting ready."

The Hyuga nodded, eager to get some time alone to think about what she just heard. She fully intended to take advantage of the lush accommodations that had been provided for her, and use a nice long soak in the large tub to get into the proper mindset for this evening. Based on the information she just received, there would be a lot of attention on her and she needed to be as poised and polished as ever for the occasion.

Forty-five minutes and a relaxing bath later, Hinata emerged from the bathroom to find the two kunoichi clad in kimonos that had obviously been altered to allow for quick and efficient movements. Samui's was an icy blue that matched her eyes, while Karui's was a forest green with a gold sash. Their hair had been clipped back by a couple of hair ornaments that Hinata assumed probably doubled as weapons in a pinch.

The heiress bit her lip, unsure what attire she had with her that would be appropriate for the situation. As if reading her mind, Karui spoke up for the first time, gesturing to a couple of packages that lay on the bed.

"The Raikage commissioned a special kimono for the occasion, for you to keep as a token of our village."

Hinata made her way over to the bed and lifted the lid off the larger box. Her eyes widened as she carefully picked up the beautiful fabric, and Karui smirked at her expression. Kumo never did anything halfway.

The kimono was made of a deep midnight blue silk, just a shade lighter than Hinata's hair. Silver and gold thread were carefully woven throughout the silk, in the pattern of clouds and lightning bolts. When the light caught the fabric just the right way, it looked as if the kimono was lit by a flash of lightning during a storm. The effect was absolutely breathtaking, as if a stormy night had come to life on her garment.

The two young women helped her drape the kimono properly and as they tied a sash the color of starlight around her waist, Hinata couldn't help but admire her reflection in the room mirror. She felt as if she was wearing a work of art.

"This is incredible," she said as she turned to face the women helping her. "I would very much like to thank the Raikage for this."

Samui nodded, saying "I'm sure an opportunity will arise during dinner." She then gestured to the remaining package on the bed, much smaller in size, looking as if it likely held some kind of jewelry.

Wide lavender eyes turned back to the Kumo nin, but Karui shook her head. "Don't look at us. Some guy from Konoha gave that to us to give to you to wear tonight."

Hinata nearly dropped the package in shock. Someone from Konoha? Someone from Konoha was here? And had given them something to give to her? Surely it wasn't Naruto.

Samui looked at Karui and reprimanded her, saying "It would be good for you to refer to people by name. Remember, he is going to be the Hokage."

If she hadn't been training this entire trip to keep her emotions from showing, if she had been even a little more comfortable with these young women, Hinata would have likely started hyperventilating. Instead, she sat down on the bed, schooling her face into something she hoped looked blank, if a little curious.

Minutely shaking hands picked up the box, opening it to find a beautiful pendant made of moonstone. She had seen some once before, and knew this to be of the highest quality. The seemingly ethereal blue glow that came from within fascinated her. The pendant was shaped like a tear drop, hanging from a delicate white gold chain.

She couldn't help that her breath caught as she noticed the necklace was laying on a folded note.

_Hinata,_

_I heard what the Raikage was planning and wanted to give you something special for the occasion. I found this on a mission a few months ago and it reminded me of you._

_The jeweller said it was called moonstone. I figured that made sense because after you left, I realized the moon always made me think of your eyes. _

_I can't wait to see you again. There's a lot I want to talk to you about._

_Naruto_

Hinata carefully controlled her breathing as she re-folded the note and placed it back in the box. She played with the necklace in her hand, trying to come to terms with what it could mean.

The clearing of a throat brought her out of her reverie and the palest of pinks suffused her cheeks. Would Naruto always have this effect on her?

"So is that from your boyfriend or something?"

"Karui!" Samui's sharp voice followed the question.

"What? She's the one looking at a necklace like it just proposed to her."

Hinata blushed harder.

"That is still not an appropriate question."

"You can't blame me for trying to enjoy a little romance, even if I have to do it vicariously."

"Now is not the time to discuss your love life."

"Pfft, what love life? All I've had lately are a bunch of burly guys trying to out macho one another."

"If you reconsidered the kind of man you generally go for then perhaps things would go differently."

"What's wrong with having a type? I like bigger guys! Just because I happen to like guys who are strong doesn't mean there can't be one out there who doesn't feel the need to act all tough all the time."

Hinata giggled. The Kumo kunoichi whipped their heads around, having forgotten for a moment that they had company.

Samui bowed and apologized for the unprofessional display.

"I don't mind at all," Hinata said sincerely. She didn't want to add that she was happy to finally see them acting like regular people. Kumo obviously valued discipline, but the heiress was relieved to know that there was a chance she could befriend them. Kurotsuchi had acted tough at first, but in the end she had become a trusted friend. She hoped to find the same thing here.

"Regardless, it was inappropriate and I will do my best to ensure it doesn't happen again."

Indigo tresses moved back and forth as Hinata shook her head, saying, "It's honestly fine. In fact, I happen know a big guy who doesn't act tough all the time. He's actually very sweet and sensitive."

Samui's passive face showed the slightest displeasure when Karui's eyes widened in response.

"Really?" she asked, trying and failing not to sound too interested. She still wasn't sure about the Hyuga, but she seemed nice enough. The diplomat certainly hadn't acted too self important since arriving, but she wasn't sure she could trust her just yet.

Hinata smiled softly in response and gave her a nod. "Really. If you ever find yourself in Konoha I'll introduce you."

Karui may not have trusted her fully yet, but she was also an excitable person and her personal life had been so awful lately that she couldn't help but be excited.

"I'd like that!" she said.

"If you don't mind we should finish helping Hyuga-san get ready for the dinner. It'll be starting soon," Samui cut in.

Karui rolled her eyes, saying, "Yeah sure," before once more addressing Hinata. "Do you have anything for your hair?"

Hinata nodded and went to retrieve the ivory and pearl combs from her bag. She sat at the mirror to begin braiding and pinning her hair back, while Karui came over to inspect the combs she had placed on the table beside her.

"Wow, did your boyfriend give you these, too? They're perfect."

Hinata blushed again, but grimaced before replying, "He - um - he's not my boyfriend."

Karui raised an eyebrow before glancing at the beautiful necklace that now adorned the heiress's neck and the intricate combs that lay next to her.

"Are you sure? These don't really seem like 'friendly' gifts."

Hinata pursed her lips, the pang in her chest becoming more pronounced the further Karui pushed the subject.

"I'm sure. Things were made very clear."

The redhead raised both eyebrows at the terse reply, sensing that this subject was a touchy one. She finally took a cue from Samui's disapproving glare and backed off.

As Hinata worked on her hair, she asked her companions about the various Kumo nin that would be present at that evening's dinner. Samui provided perfect descriptions, from names and physical attributes, to their professional backgrounds and political affiliations. The diplomat couldn't help but appreciate Karui's additions, however, which included any quirks or strange habits. It was nice to know that the villages weren't so different after all and that even the very serious Kumo nin had developed their own ways of dealing with such a dangerous and stressful life.

It also helped keep her mind off the fact that the kunoichi had mentioned earlier that someone from Konoha was there - someone who was going to be Hokage one day. Her stomach was in knots at the possibility that it could be Naruto. She wasn't ready to see him yet. She had promised herself that by the time she left Kumo, she would be officially moving on with her life, but she hadn't yet been able to stamp out her feelings. The beautiful gifts he had been sending her just made the process more difficult.

She kept telling herself not to read too deeply into his gifts and notes. Karui was right in saying the beautiful gifts he had left for her had not been something a man would generally get for a platonic friend, and Naruto had certainly been going out of his way to try to meet her, but it was entirely believable that the Uzumaki would go so far for a friend. He had always been the kind of person who would go to the ends of the earth and back for those he cared about. It was one of the things she loved about him. And he had made it clear that he felt bad about what had happened.

It made her feel worse about how she had reacted. She knew he hadn't said anything that day to hurt her intentionally. And Hinata also knew that he was under no obligation to return her feelings for him. This was the other part of the reason she wasn't ready to see him. She was embarrassed about what had transpired between them. She didn't want him to try to force himself to feel anything for her out of pity or guilt.

The heiress sighed, looking at her reflection in the mirror. The moonstone shone from within and the combs decorated her braided updo perfectly. She wanted to chastise herself for wearing the gifts of the man she was trying so hard to forget, but couldn't really blame herself for cherishing them.

It was soon time to make their way to dinner. Hinata followed the Kumo kunoichi, reminding herself that regardless of what happened tonight, she needed to act like the Hyuga heiress and Konoha diplomat that she was. She squared her shoulders and straightened her back, raising her chin enough to convey confidence, but not so much as to seem too self-important.

If Samui had been telling the truth - and she didn't seem the kind to joke about such matters - tonight was an opportunity for her to finally put her past with Kumo behind her. She would never forget what happened, but she could work on her forgiveness. It seemed appropriate that this village had been the final leg of her journey. Perhaps she could get past her issues with Kumo, and finally get past her issues with Naruto as well. Hinata was hopeful that she could emerge from this final six months with the experience and peace of mind she needed to serve Konoha to the best of her abilities.

As they entered the massive banquet room, Hinata's eyes widened in wonder at the scene before her. It looked as if the room took up an entire third of the floor of the Raikage tower. The furniture was all surprisingly modern, with large clear glass tables and only slightly ornamental metal chairs. The light fixtures were made out of a shiny silver metal, their gleam seeming to double the light given off by the bulbs within.

The clear, streamlined furniture made the room feel very open and drew her eye to the wall of windows. As she took in the sight she suddenly realized why they didn't have any need for extravagant centerpieces or artwork in the room. The clouds that descended upon the city were now lit by the sunset, shining beautiful hues of oranges, pinks, and purples. The view was stunning and Hinata felt silly for having thought the village so gloomy and uninviting upon arrival.

Most of the tables were already filled, and the diplomat followed her companions as they wove through the people and made their way toward a long curved table that sat in front of the windows. The Raikage sat in the middle of the table, looking very regal as his hulking figure was bathed in the golden glow from outside. On one side of him sat an equally large man wearing sunglasses. On the other, a bored looking man with tousled white hair sat with his arms crossed. Hinata knew these men to be Killer Bee and Darui.

Next to Darui, Hinata recognized the familiar silver hair of Kakashi. Seeing both eyes was still rather unfamiliar, and she vaguely wondered at his new nickname considering he could no longer rightfully be called Sharingan Kakashi. Then again, as the newest Hokage, she supposed that would obviously be how he was referred to.

Samui and Karui's words ran through her mind again and the heiress felt ridiculous at not having realized that Kakashi was most likely the one who had given them the necklace. After all, he was currently the Hokage - or almost the Hokage. Hinata had received word that the transition was not going as smoothly or as quickly as Tsunade had hoped. This was mostly because Kakashi kept using any excuse he could to leave the village. The diplomat had a sneaking suspicion that this was due to the fact that the Fifth had agreed to temporarily cover for him during the transition if he had to leave - including paperwork. She was sure she'd hear all about it when she got back.

Once they reached the head table, Hinata's companions went to take their places next to their sensei and Mabui gestured to the heiress to sit next to Kakashi.

"Hello Hinata-san," Kakashi said with a wave. She could see his smile even behind the mask and his casual, happy air in this politically charged atmosphere was both odd and comforting to her.

"Good evening, Hokage-sama. I haven't yet had a chance to offer my congratulations. I look forward to serving you."

"Mah, mah," Kakashi said, waving off her formalities. "Congratulations are for people who received something they were working towards. The Fire Lord and council just took advantage of the fact that I'll serve Konoha with my dying breath."

Hinata was shocked at how he was treating his appointment. It's true he never really seemed to be vying for the position, but he had essentially achieved the highest status a shinobi could and he was acting like he hadn't even wanted it.

The silver haired man just chuckled at her scandalized expression.

"It's alright, I figured if they were going to take advantage of me, then two could play that game. I agreed on one very special condition."

The Hyuga tilted her head in curiosity.

"I agreed to be Hokage only if they'd let me train Naruto to take my place when I'm ready to retire. It's not public yet, and he still has to go through a few bureaucratic steps before he can be the official next in line, so don't go spreading it around. I just figured as one of his longest supporters you would be interested."

Hinata couldn't help the light blush at Kakashi's jab at her admiration of the blond, but she was overcome with the realization that Naruto was so close to achieving his dream. Kakashi had always come off to her as a bit of a standoffish jonin instructor. It's not that she thought he hadn't cared, he had always made sure to take care of them in his own way, but it was very different than how Kurenai and Asuma had treated their teams. But to hear that he had done something like this for his student almost made her tear up in gratitude on behalf of the Uzumaki.

"That was wonderful of you, Hokage-sama. I'm sure Uzumaki-san was very excited when you told him. I know he won't let you down."

The Hatake watched as pearlescent eyes glittered with happiness and smiled softly at the sincerity in her voice. He knew what had happened between the young woman in front of him and his student, but it seemed the situation wasn't as hopeless as the blond currently thought.

"Speaking of my knuckleheaded student, that's a very pretty necklace you have on," Kakashi said with a wink.

Hinata's hand automatically went up to grasp the pendant, as if to shield both it and her embarrassment from Kakashi's sharp eyes. It was in vain, however, and her commander reached over and, in complete disregard for decorum, patted her head.

"I'll have to tell him you like it. He was really sad he wouldn't be able to come give it to you in person, and he made me swear that I'd get it to you myself."

The silver haired man let out a shiver in recollection of Naruto's threats to his precious literature should he find out Kakashi had arrived in Kumo too late to give Hinata the necklace for the banquet.

Much to her dismay, Hinata's cheeks only darkened further, causing Kakashi's eyes to crinkle with his smile.

"I'll tell him you like it, then! Or, you know, you could _show_ him just how much you like it when you get back."

Kakashi punctuated his comment with a wink and a perverted giggle, and Hinata was too horrified to be as embarrassed as she normally would be. Was the Hokage really making dirty suggestions while sitting only a couple seats from the stern Raikage?

She worriedly glanced behind the man who seemed entirely unconcerned to see if anyone had heard, but all she saw was Darui leaning back in his chair looking half asleep and muttering about how dull this whole thing was.

The heiress let out a sigh of relief and was about to strike up a new, much safer, conversation with her Hokage when Ay stood abruptly from his seat and banged his sole fist on the table to gain everyone's attention. The room immediately became silent and Hinata was yet again impressed at the command he held over his village.

"I'm glad everyone could be here tonight. We are here to celebrate an important occasion - something I know will help Kumo continue to prosper in the future."

Cheers erupted after this statement, the patriotic shinobi and civilians alike who had been invited excited for whatever this meeting meant for their village.

"We are here tonight to welcome an important guest, someone who showed great courage when she agreed to be the trial delegate even before the official renewal of our Allied Nations treaty."

Quiet murmurs were heard throughout, the guests acknowledging the risks Hinata had taken in agreeing to her current position. Outside the shinobi world, diplomats were treated with respect and people acknowledged that they were working to establish good relations between their home and the place they were visiting.

While this was also true within the shinobi world, their diplomats were also treated with suspicion. Many had used diplomats before as infiltrators or assassins. It was even more dangerous than undercover work, where you had the possibility of remaining safe so long as your cover was kept. As a diplomat, your heritage was public knowledge as well as your allegiances. They went into nations that were formerly (or not-so formerly) their own nation's enemy as essentially a willing hostage. If relations soured at any point they would undoubtedly be tortured for information or put to death as an act of war.

"However, I decided that in order to welcome this particular guest properly, we first need to make something right."

The murmurs grew louder, the shinobi not accustomed to their leader sounding as though he had done something wrong. Most thought that perhaps they were interpreting it wrong, but all were curious to hear what came next.

"Hyuga Hinata, on behalf of Kumo and myself, I apologize for your attempted kidnapping when you were a child and for what transpired afterward. Kumo is now Konoha's ally and I hope that your time here will show you that we are _your_ ally as well."

A tense silence now fell upon the room. None in attendance could ever remember a time when they had heard that the Raikage had apologized, let alone actually heard such a thing themselves.

All eyes turned to Hinata who sat perfectly still, her face giving no reaction away. Seconds that felt like minutes passed before she stood and faced the man that towered above her. He gave no indication that he was anxiously awaiting her response, or that he particularly cared to hear it, but his words had been sincere and he had made no excuses - only offered an apology and the opportunity to bridge the gap between her and Kumo during her stay here. She could appreciate that.

"I am touched by your apology and your kind gestures. I took this mission knowing that I would be coming here and although I can admit I was a bit anxious at first, given our history, I also had faith in our alliance and in the camaraderie built by our villages in the last war.

"I look forward to working with you and to strengthening the ties between us."

Hinata sat back down, heart pounding in her chest, but she felt lighter than she had when she first arrived. She watched as the Raikage introduced Kakashi and Chojuro as esteemed guests and listened to the strange conversation that was taking place between the silver haired Hokage and Darui.

"Sumimasen for your long journey. I thought it would be a good idea to have someone from Konoha here to witness the official apology, but I didn't think Raikage-sama would demand the Hokage himself."

"Oh, it was no trouble!" Kakashi said, waving off his concern. "When I got the message requesting someone attend, I thought it would be ideal if I were to go myself. Besides, Tsunade is happy to watch over things in my absence."

Darui nodded his head and Hinata had to keep herself from choking on the water she had just drunk. Apparently her suspicion was right and Kakashi was a little too eager to get away and hand things back to the Fifth. His antics actually made her rather homesick and she busied herself with eating.

Soon, various people were coming by to introduce themselves. Some were shinobi, others from clans, and the heiress was thankful for an opportunity so early in her trip to meet and make plans with these people.

The crowd had begun to thin a bit, and dessert was long ago finished, most people mulling around and drinking sake, when the lights suddenly dimmed. Samui was at her side in a second, stance ready to fight, but when a loud voice carried over the crowd she relaxed her posture and let out an uncharacteristic groan.

"I'm stoked to see everyone here

You should know there's nothing to fear

Killer Bee will keep this party alive

We'll be singin and dancin allll night.

Yeeah!"

Karui had sidled her way over to Hinata and Samui by now and leaned over to whisper to the two, "Crap, how did he get a sound system in here? I know for a fact Mabui-san checked the room out personally so that something like this wouldn't happen."

By this time Omoi had joined them, his after dinner sucker hanging out the side of his mouth. He looked on the verge of panic as he said, "Guys, what are we gonna do? Some people from the Lightning Country court are here! If Bee-sensei keeps going he'll definitely say something to offend them and it'll cause a political incident and then Raikage-sama will be forced to defend his brother from the Daimyo and there might be a civil war and our allegiances will be tested and people might - "

Karui shut him up before he could go any further by smacking him in the back of the head, making him bite his tongue on accident instead of his lollipop. He looked at her with narrowed eyes as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Relax, it's not going to be that bad," the redhead responded. "But you know Raikage-sama will expect us to make this better. We can't afford for him to get pissed at an event like this."

As she finished speaking, the four of them looked up again to see Bee standing in front of a woman, trying to show her how to sway her hips to his beat properly as her scandalized husband - the head of an important Lightning country clan - looked on.

"Shit," Karui hissed and Samui couldn't find it in herself to chastise her as she shared the sentiment.

"Omoi, you and Karui will go distract Sensei. It looks like Mabui has already begun trying to get some of the non-shinobi out of the room as discreetly as possible. It looks like Darui-sama and Hokage-sama are trying to calm Raikage-sama so if you can figure out how to disable his sound system fast enough there shouldn't be a huge incident.

"I will accompany Hyuga-san back to her room. Considering the reason we are here, I'm afraid Bee-sensei will try to get her involved in some way."

Ivory eyes widened in terror at the prospect and Samui nodded her understanding at the sudden panic.

Karui and Omoi were already almost across the room, the latter trying to convince Bee that he should get back to a stage where everyone could see him better (and away from the now thoroughly pissed off clan head) while Karui was desperately searching for the hidden sound system in order to deactivate it.

The Konoha diplomat was ushered out of the room quickly and quietly, and she could tell that Samui also breathed a sigh in relief when they were in the elevator. The blonde dropped her off at her room, bowing and apologizing for the abrupt ending of their evening, before excusing herself to go help with the rest of the damage control.

Still a little shellshocked, but feeling that the evening had actually gone quite well, Hinata readied herself for bed, carefully putting away her kimono and accessories before crawling into bed. The day had been rather emotionally taxing and she found herself drifting off to sleep.

* * *

The heiress was startled awake in the middle of the night, not understanding why she felt so tired. It was a testament to her shinobi training, that even in her lethargic state she managed to dodge the what could have been a lethal blow that came her way.

Leaping out of bed, and nearly falling over from the dizziness that accompanied such a sudden action, Hinata steadied herself and tried to focus on finding her senbon.

"What the fuck, I thought you said she'd be drugged," sounded the gruff voice of one of her attackers.

"Beats me, maybe my guy in the kitchen didn't put enough in."

Well that certainly explained why she felt this way.

For better or worse, Hinata had to concentrate entirely on the situation at hand with her attackers. She didn't have a chance to wonder at who would have drugged her, didn't have a moment to consider that it might have been Kumo, didn't have the the leisure of focusing on the possibility of betrayal just hours after a formal apology.

She was a Hyuga and as such, was very familiar with her own chakra system. She could feel it fluctuating wildly and was unsure what it would do to the Gentle Fist. Perhaps in the future she would train in various states of being drugged to ensure she was able to use her family's style in situations like these. As things stood currently, senbon would be her most reliable option.

Her disorientation had hampered her ability to find her weapons of choice, but luckily she had already taken the opportunity earlier to hide some around the room. The thing she loved most about senbon was their versatility. They were easy to disguise and there were many ways to put them to use.

Hinata's hand found one of her stashes and she quickly tried to run the pros and cons of using them immediately. On the one hand, she should be able to disable her attackers from afar. However, if her drugged state caused her to miss then the men would be aware that she was armed and it would further complicate things for her.

One of the attackers apparently had enough of waiting and lunged for her. The heiress acted more disoriented than she was feeling, in the hopes of lulling the man into a false sense of superiority, and sure enough, he only grabbed one of her arms. She used a water jutsu to disperse some of the water in her hand, making it harder for him to get a grip on it. Taking advantage of his loose grip, she maneuvered her own hand out of his and turned, jamming her senbon into a couple of nerves on his neck and into one eye.

The man screamed in pain and shoved her forcefully away.

"The bitch has senbon!" he yelled to his companion, and Hinata cursed their forethought with the drugs because she was finding it harder to right herself after being pushed.

Knowing the element of surprise was gone, the kunoichi used the remaining weapons in her hands and launched them at the man who was coming her way. Unfortunately he was prepared with a kunai to deflect them and her aim was far from perfect.

As soon as the man realized she was out of senbon, he too lunged at her before she could replenish her supply.

Hinata was feeling frustrated as she grappled with the large man. Her first attacker was still downed by his injuries, but it was hard to keep her balance and she wasn't able to use her regular strength.

"There's no use struggling, _princess_," he spat, "Those drugs will only make it harder to fight and I'm not tired in the slightest. We'll have you and those eyes of yours. You might as well give up."

Might as well give up? Her byakugan involuntarily activated at the ire she felt from such a statement. The man had never been on the receiving end of an activated Hyuga stare and found it extremely unnerving. Nevertheless, he reminded himself that she was at a disadvantage and he shouldn't let up.

"I never give up."

She channelled a bit of chakra to her forehead, and headbutted him, wincing from the impact since her control was off and her chakra hadn't protected her quite as it should.

Luckily, however, the action had caused more damage to her opponent whose hand reflexively flew up to the injury.

"Damnit," he cursed, not sure how a girl her size was able to do such damage with her forehead.

Hinata could feel her vision starting to blur and seized on the opportunity of his distraction to jyuken his shoulder. Even with her Byakugan activated, she was sure she missed the tenketsu, but she was sure she at least nicked it and she knew for a fact that she'd hit some nerves.

Sure enough, his arm went limp. With one hand on his head and one arm useless, the Hyuga went for a pressure point she knew would knock him out with a little extra chakra. It worked and the man collapsed, unfortunately right on top of her.

The heiress struggled, trapped underneath the man's massive deadweight. The man she had previously injured took notice of her predicament and made his way towards her, a nasty snarl on his face.

Hinata started to panic, thrashing as best she could to get the limp man off of her so she could continue to fight. If she wasn't on a diplomatic mission then she could have just killed her attackers, but she knew better than to kill two men inside the Raikage tower, even if they had come after her first.

As the man stalked closer, she noticed the moonlight gleaming off his forehead protector. There, plain as day, she saw the Kumo symbol. She started to get angry. How dare they. How _dare_ they act like they were sincere, apologize for the trouble they had caused her and her family as a child, and make the same attempt just hours later.

With her Byakugan activated, she could see a genjutsu pervading her floor. At least that explained why no one was coming to her aid. Considering the identity of her attackers, she wasn't surprised that the kunoichi she met earlier weren't coming to help, but Chojuro and Kakashi would have heard the noise and come to help. Then again, on top of the genjutsu, it was probable that they had been drugged as well.

Worst of all, Hinata knew she couldn't kill these men even if it came to that. If she killed a couple of Kumo shinobi while there then she would be the one they blamed for not renewing the treaty. They would never admit to instigating this and would probably try to say that she murdered a couple of nin out of revenge, which would be even more outrageous considering their public apology. It was a perfect ploy and she was furious.

Unfortunately, that fury made it harder to act with a clear head and she was still stuck underneath her felled attacker. The man she had injured previously had pulled out a kunai and was leaning over her.

"An eye for an eye, isn't that how it goes?"

Just as he started to bring the kunai down, what looked like a massive tentacle burst through the door and dropped the man to the floor.

Hinata stared in disbelief as the man attached to the giant tentacle walked in, the tentacle receding back into a muscled arm.

"I was on my way to get a midnight snack / when Hachibi sensed someone under attack. What's going on here, fool ya fool?"

Although he had just saved her, Hinata couldn't help but feel wary. He was, after all, a part of Kumo.

"I woke up and they were attacking," she said simply, waiting to see what he would do.

Bee didn't say anything for a moment, studying the bodies of the men on the floor. He could tell that the diplomat was still scared, even of him.

"_Bee_," spoke Gyuki,"_these men are wearing Kumo hitaiate._"

"Huh?" Bee grunted, before seeing that they did indeed have the Kumo symbol on their foreheads. However he didn't know these guys. When he looked closer, he also noticed their gear didn't fit them quite right.

"They attacked our guests and pretended to be Kumo nin / when Brother finds out it'll be their end," Bee rapped.

Hinata heard this and furrowed her brows.

"But Mabui-san said that only a few people know how to open these windows. And what about the sensor? You want me to believe that these men aren't acting on the Raikage's orders when they were able to drug me at an official banquet and sneak into my room in his own tower?"

Bee bristled at the accusation, but Gyuki started talking before he could respond.

"_She has a point. We know it wasn't Ay, but it looks like there was some kind of inside job here_."

The jinchuriki frowned, not liking the idea but knowing the Hachibi had a point. He turned to the heiress, who was having a hard time staying awake as her adrenaline was starting to fade, and said, "Even though they were dressed like Kumo nin / I know these are not our men. Those hitaiate ain't theirs, or that gear / and my Brother's apology was sincere, fool ya fool."

"O-oh," Hinata responded, her head growing fuzzier. "Then, um, thank you for saving me."

"I promised Naruto I'd keep you safe during your stay / so now I guess I need to get you out of harm's way."

"Hm?" Hinata asked, as she felt herself being pulled out from under her attacker and placed over a shoulder.

Now struggling to keep her eyes open, the heiress felt herself being carried as her two attackers were dragged behind them.

"Where - going?" she managed to get out.

"I'll drop these losers at T&amp;I and leave Brother a note

After that we're good to catch our boat. Yeeah!"

Hinata was even more confused by his response, but could no longer keep unconsciousness from overtaking her.

* * *

Hinata groaned and struggled to lift her heavy eyelids. Finally prying the sleep crusted lids apart, she rubbed them to both get rid of her blurred vision and help her eyes adjust to the bit of light that currently filled her room.

She sat up slowly, her body still feeling slightly lethargic from the effect of the drugs. She didn't know where she was, or how long she had been asleep, but she vaguely recalled that Killer Bee had saved her from a bad situation and said he was going to take her somewhere. She found she was less concerned than she probably should have been, considering everything. Naruto trusted Bee and she felt it would be best to do the same in these circumstances. He had saved her, after all.

The heiress shifted herself to the side of her bed, and looked around the room as she tested her weight on her legs. The room had only a bed and nightstand in it, as well as a rug covering the majority of the stone floor. The walls were also made of stone and Hinata debated wrapping one of the blankets on the bed around herself to ward off the cool, damp air.

Deciding against it, Hinata settled for rubbing her hands against the length of her arms to warm them up while making her way carefully to the door. She opened it slowly, just enough to poke her head out and found a long hallway. The hall was also made of stone, but lights were lit at various intervals and it felt a little less foreboding than her dim room.

Hinata wandered the hallway for a few minutes, and was debating whether or not to activate her Byakugan. She was obviously in some sort of living quarters and didn't want to see anything private, but at the same time she had yet to see anybody and was eager to have some questions answered.

"Hyuga-sama, you're awake!"

Hinata turned around and saw a man with spiky dark brown hair and a green mark on his nose hurrying towards her. He didn't seem threatening, but she stayed on guard as he came closer.

When he reached her, he bowed and kept a comfortable distance between them, much to her relief.

"Hyuga-sama, I am Motoi. You weren't in your room when I went to check on you. I'm glad I found you before you wandered too far. This is not the kind of place you should be exploring without guidance."

Her brows furrowed at this. She had been rather out of it at the time, but she vaguely remembered Bee saying he'd get her somewhere safe so she didn't understand why she wouldn't be okay to look around.

Then again, she had honestly just been looking for Bee or someone to tell her where she was. Now that she had found one she didn't need to look around further - at least for now.

"It's nice to meet you, Motoi-san," Hinata said with a slight bow. She wanted to be polite, but he was still an unknown so she wouldn't let down her guard around him.

"If you'll follow me, I can take you to Bee. We also have a change of clothes for you. I'm afraid they're just clothes we had around here so they won't fit you properly, but I think you'll be more comfortable."

Hinata suddenly remembered she was still wearing her nightgown and was unable to suppress her blush. After everything that had happened since she left Konoha, she was starting to consider sleeping in full uniform from now on.

Noticing her discomfort, Motoi respectfully averted his eyes and turned to lead her back toward her room. When they arrived, he gestured to a couple items of clothing that were laying on the bed. Hinata's eyes widened when she saw the familiar jumpsuit pants of a particular orange-preferring shinobi. She whipped her head around to look at Motoi who didn't exactly understand the reaction, but began to explain, "When Naruto left to join the war, he left a bag of his things here. Bee's shirts don't even really count as actual shirts and they'd be even bigger so I thought you'd rather these… I can try to find something else if you'd prefer."

Realizing she must seem ungrateful, Hinata shook her head and apologized. Motoi nodded in acceptance and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Ivory eyes were fixated on the articles of clothing in front of her. Who'd have thought she would ever end up having to wear Naruto's clothes? Sure, she had always wanted to date him, but just the idea of eating or holding hands with him was enough to make her lightheaded. Wearing his clothes seemed so much more intimate. She picked up his shirt and was suddenly overwhelmed by the scent coming off of it. It smelled like him and if she closed her eyes it was almost like he was there.

She slid down the side of the bed until she was sitting on the ground, fighting the tears that threatened to fall. Really, she chastised herself for being so affected by something like the smell of a shirt. Then again, it seemed as if the world had it in for her and her attempt to forget her affections.

It really brought into perspective just how far she had left to go before she went back to Konoha. If his clothes and smell had that kind of effect on her, then what on earth would have happened if it had been him?

A knock at the door brought her out of her thoughts and she heard Motoi ask through the wood, "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, sorry. I'll be out in just a second," she assured, embarrassed that she'd been carried away and had forgotten that someone was waiting on her.

In less than a minute, Hinata was opening the door, now wearing a large black t-shirt and orange pants that she had to roll up both at the waist and the ankles.

She followed Motoi in the opposite direction of the one she had gone earlier, doing everything she could to ignore the fact that Naruto's scent had now engulfed her entire being.

The Konoha kunoichi counted just four doors before Motoi stopped and knocked on the fifth. In no time at all, the door burst open with the lively Bee standing just inside the frame.

"Hey, yo, good to see you're okay / Those drugs knocked you out for a couple days!"

Hinata was startled to realize she had been asleep for so long. At least that explained why she felt so hungry. As if on cue, her stomach growled and a light pink dusted her cheeks.

"I actually have some food ready," Motoi said. "I just wanted to get Bee-san before we go."

"Thank you," she replied.

They walked a little further, Bee rapping to himself as they went. They came to an open room, with a long table and small kitchen. Hinata and Bee sat down while Motoi went to grab a couple of things on the counter. Ivory eyes looked around the room, beginning to wonder what kind of place they were in. She had heard they sent Naruto away to try to hide him at the beginning of the war, but never heard what exactly he had been doing other than training with the only other remaining jinchuriki.

The heiress was quiet through the meal, letting Motoi and Bee do most of the talking. Apparently Bee had determined that there had been some kind of inside assistance in her attack and, having promised Naruto that he'd look out for her, had taken her to a remote location until the Raikage could get to the bottom of what happened.

Motoi had seen Killer Bee on his way to the harbor, with an unconscious woman draped over his shoulder, and followed. After hearing about the situation and realizing there was no way he could convince his friend otherwise, he offered to come along.

By the time the story was finished, they had finished their meal. Hinata stood up and turned to Bee. She bowed low, lower than was fitting for her station, and thanked him profusely for saving her. She had been hesitant in the aftermath of her attack to trust the man, but he had obviously gone out of his way for her and she appreciated it.

"Don't mention it, fool ya fool," was Bee's response.

She straightened back up, eyes widened in shock at his nonchalance. It made it more obvious he had done it without hesitation, just because he thought it was the right thing to do.

Noticing the look in her eyes, and glad that she now seemed to believe that neither he nor his brother were behind her attack, Bee smiled and extended his fist.

Hinata's brows furrowed in confusion, but Motoi piped up before she even had to ask.

"Bumping fists is Bee-san's special greeting."

She nodded in understanding and extended her own fist, noting how tiny her hand looked compared to his. They stayed like that for a minute, before Bee retracted his arm and she followed suit.

The larger man seemed deep in thought for a moment and she took the opportunity to pick up the dishes and take them to the sink to rinse them. If it was just the three of them, she planned to help in whatever way she could.

When she returned to the table, Bee's eyes were fixated on her as he continued to mull something over in his mind.

"I've seen you before in Naruto's heart

Now something inside is tearing you apart

I've got a training spot I can show you to use

If you can handle it, it'll make you less confused."

Hinata was frozen for a moment, unsure just how much the man knew about what was going on with her. However, if he knew something that would help, she knew she should take advantage of it. After all, she was running out of time.

"I appreciate the offer. I will do whatever you recommend," she said with determination.

"Just follow me!" was Bee's enthusiastic response.

The heiress stood up to follow the large man. She felt both curious and excited about what awaited her.

Meanwhile, Motoi hurried to catch up with Bee to whom he whispered, "You're not taking her where I think you are?"

Bee just smiled and gave him a thumbs up, further confirming their destination.

"Bee-san, that's a secret Kumo training spot! It's always been used exclusively for Kumo jinchuuriki. Naruto ended up being an exception, but I don't know if the Raikage will be okay with this."

Bee just shrugged off Motoi's objections and bobbed his head to a beat that only he could hear.

Hinata hadn't been eavesdropping on purpose, but they were the only three people there so she couldn't help but hear what Motoi had said. She was now even more intrigued, and a little anxious. If this was something integral to training as a jinchuuriki, then it was likely to be very intense.

The remainder of their walk, her mind was occupied with guessing what could be awaiting her, the scenarios growing more dangerous and bizarre. She was surprised, and very curious, when they came to a door that Motoi told her lead to the outside. Hinata was interested to see what kind of place they had taken her to, a place that they were confident enough to hide Naruto when he was targeted by the most dangerous people in their world.

Stepping outside, she gazed around into one of the wildest forests she had ever seen. And considering she came from Konoha and had recently travelled quite a bit, that was saying something. Although it was a forest, it didn't feel like the serene wooded areas surrounding her home. These woods radiated with a kind of dangerous energy and when she activated her Byakugan, her eyes widened at the variety of strong and enormous creatures that inhabited it. She was starting to understand why Motoi had told her not to wander, but just what was this place?

She continued to walk behind her hosts, deactivating her doujutsu after a minute when she was sure none of the creatures were nearby. Though, she noticed that neither of the Kumo nin seemed concerned by their surroundings.

Finally, they came to a stop and Hinata's attention was drawn immediately to the beautiful waterfall in front of them. She had always been partial to waterfalls, even as a girl, and she was again curious as to whether Bee was showing her this because he had "seen" that through their fistbump (which she still had trouble understanding), or if this was part of the training he was talking about. She had heard of shinobi training under the force of a waterfall before, working on strength, concentration, and - in the case of water users - the mastery of their element in all of it's natural glory.

"This place is called the Falls of Truth," Motoi said. "It is kind of a sacred place, a place for introspection and growth."

Hinata nodded in understanding. It seemed a little anticlimactic after what she had been imagining on the way, but she wouldn't deny she was curious.

"I come here a lot to meditate,

It can help improve your mental state.

But if you're not strong in body and mind

you'll find yourself in a dangerous bind."

The heiress furrowed her brow at the warning. It's not that she didn't believe him, but she had been practicing meditation for almost all her life. It was an integral part of her family's training regimen. She knew that it could be intense, but wasn't sure what he meant by dangerous.

"Thank you for your words of caution."

The men were standing there looking at her expectantly, and it took her a moment to realize they were waiting for her to start. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to connect with her inner mind while they stood there staring at her. It seemed more awkward than anything, even if they were trying to help.

"Um, do you think I could do this later? It's not that I'm not eager to try it, but I'm not sure now is the right time…" She trailed off knowing she couldn't tell them that their observance was making her feel a bit awkward. Instead she said, "If this is as dangerous as you say then maybe I should wait until I'm fully recovered from being drugged. I want to make sure I'm in the proper condition."

It wasn't the whole truth, but it wasn't a lie either. She was starting to feel a little groggy again and more rest was sounding really good.

The men looked at each other and shrugged, causing Hinata to let out a small sigh of relief, before they went back inside. The kunoichi made herself a small snack to take to her room and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Hours later Hinata startled herself awake, quickly activating her Byakugan to make sure no one was in her room. She deactivated it just as quickly and let out a breath of relief. She'd had a dream about her latest attack, but on the bright side, she now knew the drugs had completely run their course as she had had no trouble sitting up and activating her doujutsu upon awaking.

The heiress stretched her limbs, climbing out of bed and continuing to stretch other parts of her body. After the grogginess she had felt from the drugs and multiple days worth of sleep, it was nice to feel limber again. Her stomach growled and she picked up the sandwich on her nightstand, eating it quickly and disregarding any etiquette. It was unnecessary at the moment and she was grateful for that.

With a full stomach and loose limbs, Hinata re-dressed and left her room. It was still the middle of the night, but it was no use trying to sleep anymore. She thought she might try meditating at the waterfall with the privacy the night afforded her. She quickly made her way outside, checking the forest to make sure none of the animals were awake and followed the path she had observed earlier until she came to the waterfalls.

She had always been partial to waterfalls, the soothing noise of rushing water, the beauty of the different kinds of light that would catch the mist that rose from the water's contact. During the day there was usually a permanent rainbow around the base of a waterfall. However, she liked night the best. At night the falls glowed with the light of the moon, and the pools surrounding it were a black abyss, occasionally reflecting the night sky. Stepping onto the water sometimes felt like stepping into the heavens themselves. It was truly the best kind of meditation.

Hinata stepped onto the patch of grass in the pool, then stepped quickly past that onto the water. Closing her eyes, she began the process of evening her breathing and clearing her mind.

The diplomat began with a basic kata, one she's been performing since the tender age of three. Before she even made it halfway through, however, she was interrupted by the sound of a slow clap. Startled, Hinata turned toward the sound, confused that it seemed to be coming from the falls.

Startled turned to shocked as she saw someone walk out of the tumbling waters. Someone who looked remarkably like herself if not for the sneer contorting the lower portion of her face.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the sniveling princess," the person said in what sounded very like her own voice, despite the hardened tone.

"Who are you?" Hinata asked.

"Come on, I know you're not stupid. Who do you think I am?" the intruder replied.

"Well you look like me, but I'm right here so that can't be the case." Hinata stood in a defensive stance, ready to defend herself if need be. Was this an imposter? Someone sent to replace her and infiltrate her village? Or something else?

"Are you sure? These are called the Waterfalls of Truth aren't they? Maybe I'm the true you and you're confused."

Hinata examined her lookalike's clothes. They were similar to her usual outfit, but much tighter and more revealing. If this was someone who was trying to imitate her she wasn't doing the best job.

Not feeling like waiting for Hinata to respond, dark Hinata rolled her eyes and began to speak again. "Since you don't seem to get it, I'll just have to explain it to you. I'm you. I'm the part of you that you suppress, the place where all your anger and resentment go."

"That… that's not possible," Hinata said, trying to take in what her doppelganger was saying.

"I'm not really sure how it works myself, but damn it feels good to be out," dark Hinata said, stretching as if she had been cramped for a while.

"You do a good job of keeping me down, I'll give you that, but it doesn't mean I don't exist. When Neji beat the crap out of you, nearly _killed _you, and you just forgave him without a second thought, I'm where that resentment went. When Sakura told you she had confessed her love to Naruto almost immediately after you'd risked your own life and told him how you felt, I'm the part that felt that anger, even though you told her it was okay.

"You're so compliant, such a fucking doormat all the time and it drives me crazy! I thought I was finally getting somewhere when you snapped at Naruto, but of course that didn't go any further. Instead you just started feeling sorry for yourself.

"Well boo-fucking-hoo. Not only did Naruto not respond to your confession, he just forgot all about you! Like you were nothing! You should have - "

"Stop it!" Hinata yelled, stopping dark Hinata mid-rant. "Stop saying things like that! He didn't do it on purpose. I was just upset. I know he wouldn't hurt me on purpose…"

"Oh really?" dark Hinata snorted, "You're always thinking about everyone but yourself. Hell, you even agreed to consider marrying one of these losers you met on this trip. For whom? Huh? Yourself? No, not yourself, you agreed to consider marrying someone who could help the clan. The same stupid fucking clan that put you down your entire life, told you you were nothing, that you were worthless, and now you want to change them? Help them? They don't deserve it!"

"They're my family!" Hinata protested weakly. It was a surreal experience arguing with herself. She could feel herself getting angrier, starting to accept some of what the woman across from her was saying. Dark Hinata smirked, realizing she was starting to get through, starting to win.

"Some family they've been. The branch family hated you because you were part of the main family. The main family treated you like dirt. Remember, I _am_ you. I've felt what you feel. I've thought what you've thought. I know you've hated them at times. And here you are playing nice politically, thinking in a few years you might marry someone to benefit the Hyuga. Like you don't deserve to find happiness, find love? What about us?!"

The original Hinata was paying attention to her angry self, getting worked up until something the more scantily clad woman said struck her.

"You, you want to be loved, too?" she whispered it like a dirty secret. Like it was something she was ashamed of, something she thought too selfish to ever utter out loud.

Dark Hinata's eyes widened in surprise before narrowing into angry slits. "Shut up. I'm just saying you need to think about yourself instead of all those other useless assholes in your life. They walk all over you all the damn time and all you ever do is consider how they feel. It pisses me off."

Hinata's mouth twitched up at the corner. This other person was her, after all. She wanted to be loved just like she did. She was just hurt.

"I just want them to be happy. If they're happy then I'm happy."

"Bullshit. If you just wanted Naruto to be happy then you wouldn't have reacted the way you did when he said those things."

Hinata winced at that. Truth was she was really embarrassed at how she had reacted. Her mother had always said love was selfless, but when push came to shove and she realized that Naruto had no inclination of returning her feelings she had gotten mad. Did that mean she didn't love him like she thought she had? No, that couldn't be the case. She had had feelings for Naruto for as long as she could remember.

At first he was her savior, the only person who had stuck up from her in a world that liked to tear her down. Then, he was someone she admired, someone who inspired her to be a better person, a better ninja. That admiration had morphed over time into love as she saw his determination, his devotion to those he cared about. She could relate to his desperation to be accepted. She wanted to be the person to give that to him, to let him know he was loved and accepted, that he didn't need to be anything more or less than he was to earn her love.

She loved him more than her own life and she had proven that, multiple times.

"He disregarded your feelings. He ignored you! You can't hide it from me, I know exactly how you felt. I'm there when you sit and wonder what is so wrong with you that he can't be remotely interested in you. I feel that same dejection you feel when he comes to speak to a group you are in and seems to forget you're even there. I feel your heart shatter whenever he asks out Sakura, whenever you see a fangirl draped across his arm and that stupid embarrassed smile on his stupid face. I am part of you. I feel what you feel and I _know_ what pain he's caused. How can you say you want him to be happy?!"

Dark Hinata was breathing heavily. She looked both angry and incredulous and Hinata couldn't really blame her. It's true she felt all those things. Sometimes it was agonizing. But she loved him.

"He's had a hard life. Growing up he was treated so badly. He was despised for something he had no control over, and later hunted for that same thing! One of the first true bonds he was able to make abandoned him and even tried to kill him multiple times. He lost Sandaime-sama, and then Jiraiya-sama. And he saved our world from complete destruction! I know what I've felt, how I still feel, but he still deserves happiness."

"You say he's had a hard life, that he deserves happiness after all he's gone through, but what about you? Don't you deserve it, too? What use is your determination to take care of others if you can't even take care of yourself?"

The heiress opened her mouth to respond, but quickly shut it again. Her doppelganger had a point. She was always so focused on others, but she could never seem to find that same confidence when it came to herself. If she was truly going to become the person she wanted to be, needed to be, then she needed to start looking out for herself as well.

Hinata stepped forward, quickly wrapping her arms around her conversation partner, who stood frozen in shock.

"I'm sorry," Hinata said, "I've been neglecting you, neglecting myself. Thank you for reminding me that I'm worth it, that I'm worth fighting for. I still want to help people, help my friends and family, but I can do that and find happiness, too."

She could feel dark Hinata breathe in sharply.

"It's going to be okay. We're going to be okay," she said.

In an instant, her other self disappeared and she was left standing alone in front of the falls. She stepped onto the grass, sitting down to think.

She had always been beaten down, told she was worthless, that she would never amount to anything. Eventually she had started to believe it. At her lowest, Naruto had been her inspiration. Her team - Kiba, Shino, Kurenai-sensei - had cared about her, they'd always done their best to let her know she was important to them. Deep down, though, she supposed she had never really gotten over that feeling. She had trained, gotten so strong that she was recognized by many for her prowess. However, she always summoned the most strength when she was defending others.

That wasn't a bad thing, really. She cared about people and she enjoyed helping others. It was telling, though, that she couldn't summon that same strength to defend herself, not even to defend herself from her own criticism.

Hearing Naruto say what he had on that mission had been a kind of wake up call. After loving him for so long, hoping that one day he might come to love her back, she had grown increasingly distressed. It was as if his disregard of her feelings had just confirmed what she was afraid of - that she was indeed not worth acknowledging.

She knew he hadn't said what he had to hurt her, though. And she also didn't feel as if he was obligated to return her feelings. He was honestly not obligated to respond to her confession, either. It was part of the reason she would never let any of her friends confront him about it. When she faced Pein, she thought she was going to die. She couldn't expect a reply if she hadn't even expected to live. She just wanted him to know, needed him to understand that he was important, that he was precious, that his life was worth something.

Hinata genuinely wanted him to be happy. When Kakashi had informed her of the deal he made when he agreed to be Hokage, she was ecstatic that Naruto was so close to his goal. She loved him, she really did, and because of that she would need to get past her own feelings.

However, that didn't mean she couldn't also be happy. It'd been more than a year and a half since she saw Naruto and yet a gift from him or a letter could still almost bring her to tears. She needed to get over him for her own sake as much as his. He didn't need to be burdened by any guilt he might feel for hurting a friend and she didn't need the heartbreak.

Her love for him ran deep, it was a part of her she didn't think she'd ever be able to purge herself of completely, but maybe she didn't need to. She had tried so hard the last eighteen months to get over him, but in reality it made her think about him just as often as she did before. If she could stop, if she could try to focus her energy on other things then maybe one day that pain would fade and she could move forward.

That settled it. When she got back she would apologize for what happened. He had tried to apologize and she hadn't been ready to face him. Now though, she would let him know that it was okay, that she knew he didn't mean to hurt her feelings. Things could go back to normal and she could focus on other things. She did have some big plans for her clan, after all.

And besides, it's not as if she had to work that often with Naruto when she was in Konoha. Their assignments hardly overlapped. She would have plenty of space when she got back to take her closure and move on.

The young woman stood and stretched before making her way back to her room. She got back into bed and fell asleep, feeling lighter than she had in a long time.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a remote location near Kusa, an unremarkable looking man anxiously paced back and forth. He had just received word of their failed attempt on the Hyuga diplomat as well as Kumo's resulting investigation and he wasn't sure how to break it to their boss.

The man tensed as he heard footsteps coming down the hall, and practically began to perspire as his boss walked through the door.

The boss looked at his subordinate and knew immediately that something was off. "What's going on, Riku?" he asked, almost amused by the telltale signs of nervousness the man was exhibiting. Riku wasn't good at handling anxiety, but was undyingly loyal which was often a much more useful trait.

"Well - uh, you see, Boss…" he paused for a moment, but continued before his superior could get impatient, "I just received a letter saying that we weren't able to secure the Hyuga. Or her eyes."

Riku closed his mouth, chewing on his tongue in a nervous habit as he waited for his boss to speak.

"I see."

The anxious man waited for more, but nothing came. He was afraid to ask, but couldn't stop himself, "Is… Is that it?"

"It's a shame it didn't work. If our men had succeeded then these arrogant nations would have gone to war. Had Hinata managed to kill them, there still would likely have been a war. Relations would have been pretty bad at any rate and I'm sure we could have managed something else to tip them towards war.

"How did they foil it? What do you know about the investigation so far?"

Riku's brows furrowed in confusion at his superior's use of their target's first name, but brushed it off to provide the requested information.

"It seems Killer Bee sensed something was wrong and managed to rescue the girl. Though it seemed she put up a good fight. One of the men lost an eye and the other might never be able to use his arm again."

The boss smirked at that. She was certainly unpredictable.

"They'll have no use for those anyway. I want our sleeper to break in as soon as he can to kill them if they haven't already been executed or swallowed their pills. Don't want them spilling any secrets now."

"Th-that's just it, sir. What if Kumo finds out about the seal? They're already looking into how two outsiders managed to get past the seals on their windows. They'll be able to find the counter seal and know it was an outside person with sealing knowledge. What if they look at the cook and find the sleeper seal? There can't be many people with the knowhow to do that. It could lead them to you!"

Boss just chuckled. "Don't worry. Once they realize the window seals were broken by an outsider, and they find the scapegoat cook we planted months ago, they'll stop looking. They wouldn't even know how to look for a modified version of one of Sasori of the Red Sand's techniques. And even if they did, they'd probably go straight to suspecting Orochimaru. Since his pardon he's been watched very closely. I'm sure any whispers of his involvement would cause tension between the other nations and Konoha. So even if they managed to find it -which they won't - we still get our political strife."

"Wow, sir, you think of everything."

"Well, some of the credit goes to the men we lost searching Sasori's old hideout for notes on his seal."

"You're so kind to think of them even now, sir. But it was your genius that managed to modify the seal to suit you."

The taller man smiled, "You know, I like it when you tell me how smart it am."

"But Boss, it's the truth!" Riku said sincerely.

"See, this is why you're my favorite," the boss responded with a wink. Riku was good for his ego, that was for sure.

His mind began wandering to a certain pale eyed beauty. He had to say he was actually kind of glad she had managed to survive the attack. He always had a back up plan, anyway.

"Um, sir, if you don't mind me speaking frankly, I feel like you're taking this remarkably well considering, you know, it failed."

"Ah, well, we'll just have to get to work on something new, won't we? Now that the trial diplomatic exchange is almost done, all the other nations will be sending their own. There will be plenty of opportunities for us to take advantage of."

Riku nodded, still wary of how smoothly the conversation had gone. However, he was not one to press his luck and he quickly took his leave.

The boss stayed in the room, going over the report his subordinate had left. His mind drifted again to the lovely Hyuga diplomat. She seemed set on making some very big changes in her clan. He wondered if there was a way he could take advantage of that situation. He was definitely looking forward to seeing her again.

* * *

**Well there you have it! It's the end of the first part of this story, but definitely not the end of the story.**

**Now that you've read it, I can tell you that Petran was the one who gave me the idea to use the Falls of Truth. This chapter was very much about Hinata facing a lot of her demons, and the suggestion fit perfectly. So thank you for that! Petran is another writer on FF and has written quite a few stories as well as contributed to stories by other authors, including an omake for Serious Sam's _My Precious People_. Definitely check them out if you haven't already.**

**Speaking of Serious Sam, I want to thank him here for recommending my story in his own. If you haven't read _My Precious People_, you really should. Seriously.**

**After this chapter and the last you now see what kind of mindset Naruto and Hinata will be in for their reunion. I have to say I am beyond excited to have them meet face to face again. I have so many things planned! Though, again, I want to assure everyone that neither Naruto or Hinata will be dating other people. I get messaged occasionally by people who are worried about that and figure her conclusion at the end of the chapter might worry some of you again. Rest assured, this is and will always be a NaruHina story, even if they're not always in a relationship.**

**Hinata's spent the first three legs of her journey getting stronger physically, and more confident in her abilities, but she was still running away from her emotions. I'd been planning for her to really sit and think about what happened, and how she was going to handle it, during her stay in Kumo. Having her argue with herself was really fun, actually, because I'd been thinking this whole time that she'd probably been alternating between being upset and feeling bad for being upset - because even though you can't help but be upset if someone you love doesn't feel the same way, she's still Hinata.**

**I also thought she needed a bit of a kick in the pants to start thinking about herself. She doesn't need to be selfish, I don't really think it's in her nature, but she is worth something and it was important to me to make sure she came to that conclusion before finishing her trip.**

**As the last bit of author business, I want to recognize Ayrmed who passed away recently. She was a great author, a supportive reader, and just a lovely part of the FF community. Honestly, she was the first one to help me understand that this site is a community and not just a place for writing. She will be sorely missed, but her story _Love's Never Easy_ is still up and there for your enjoyment. It's very sweet and I've heard it might actually be continued. Even if it's not, though, it's worth the read.**

**Thank you again for all your support! I always enjoy hearing what you think.**


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